Secrets Untold
by Shi no Megami 24
Summary: There's a new Gundam pilot... a female. Do not read if you don't like Relena bashing or the gboys put into THEIR stereotypical roles.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
She walked into the classroom, gazing around at her so-called classmates, not even a slight sign of a smile showing. Her short lavender hair that was chin length had two red pieces that hid behind her bangs and fell down below her shoulders. Her lavender eyes held a cold gaze that made everyone look away from her. She wore black leather pants and a tight red shirt that was almost hidden under a black duster that fell to her knees.  
  
"Is that the new student?" she heard a girl in the back whisper to her friend. "She doesn't look too nice." Not that she had wanted to. She liked it better when people were scared of her. It was easier that way, and people wouldn't want to get close to her if they were scared. And it's not like she was going to stay long.  
  
Searching the room, she let her eyes rest on a group of four guys sitting all the way in the back, hidden in the corner. One guy, who she had to admit was cute, had a long brown braid and cobalt blue eyes. Another guy had gravity defying hair, which she had to wonder about and think it cool at the same time, and green eyes. The third had messy brown hair and persian blue eyes. The last one seemed the nicest. He had nice blonde hair and adorable blue eyes. Smirking, she knew that the fun was about to begin. One was missing though. Where was he?  
  
She spotted a young Chinese looking boy walk into the room. He had black hair that pulled into a small pigtail. There he is, she thought to herself. He took his seat next to his friends in the back.  
  
"Class," she heard the teacher say. "This is Lily Hino. Lily, please take a seat in the back. One of the seats in front of those five boys." Lily nodded. The plan was going perfectly.  
  
She took a seat in front of Heero. And they call him the perfect soldier? She laughed on the inside. He doesn't look so perfect to me. And Braid Boy over there, cute or not, better stop looking at me or else he's gonna have a black eye soon. As if reading her mind he quickly looked away.  
  
"Hi, I'm Quatre." She looked back and Blondie was smiling at her.  
  
"Quatre? Oh I know. And they are Heero, Trowa, Wufei and Duo. Or as I prefer to call you Mr. Sensitive, Perfect Soldier, Circus Boy, Sexist Pig and Braid Boy." The five Gundam Pilots stared at Lily wide-eyed.  
  
"Who are you and how do you know our names?" demanded Wufei.  
  
"And why should I tell you Sexist Pig?" He winced at the given nickname. "All you need to know is I've been watching you and I still am." The bell rang. Lily, happy to leave and get away from these 'dorks', gathered her books and walked away.  
  
"I don't trust her," stated Heero.  
  
"I heard that Perfect Soldier," Lily shouted over her shoulder just before she left the room. Heero growled.  
  
"I'm gonna find out who that baka onna is," explained Wufei. He darted out of the room and into the hallway, which now, was empty of all people, including Lily. Grumbling, he walked back into the classroom. "She's gone."  
  
"She called me Braid Boy," complained Duo.  
  
"At least she didn't call you Sexist Pig," put in Wufei.  
  
"Or Circus Boy," added Trowa.  
  
"Yeah, well Heero doesn't even have to complain. He is the Perfect Soldier," stated Duo.  
  
"Right," Trowa and Wufei agreed. Heero just ignored them and thought about the new girl. She was wierd and most definitely suspicious. How did she know their names?  
  
"She called me Mr. Sensitive?" Quatre stood there. "Where'd she get that from?"  
  
"Well, you are." All five boys jumped at the sound of Lily's voice. "I forgot my purse." She grabbed her purse off the floor. I knew he wasn't such a perfect soldier. First he doesn't see that I left my purse and second he couldn't hear me coming. "You're all pathetic."  
  
"And how would you know," snapped Duo. Lily smirked, an evil glint in her eyes.  
  
"Because I know plenty about the five of you. Braid Boy, you're an American and pilot the gundam Deathscythe Hell. You were raised by Father Maxwell, that being where you got your last name. You always wear that cross and you almost always have black on. Mainly your outfit now. It used to be a priest collar though, not the red shirt. You used to go out with Hilde Schbeiker but she dumped you because you flirted with too many girls. You are still friends though." Duo said nothing and did nothing. She turned to Heero.  
  
"You Perfect Soldier, or anti social suicidal maniac, are Japanese. You pilot the gundam Wing Zero, and went into a coma because you self- destructed while you were still in it. Relena Peacecraft, or rather Queen Relena and Vice Foreign Minister, a friend of yours, keeps following you, hoping that one day you will love her the way she loves you. You also know Braid Boy here to be your best friend, although you would never come out and say it." Heero only glared at her. What was his business belonged to him only and not the whole world, especially her.  
  
"Sexist Pig here is Chinese, and pilots the gundam Nataku. You killed your own wife and now have your eyes set on Sally Po. You would never tell her though. You once fought against Trieze and lost. What a pity too. You call all women weak, when you yourself are the weak one." Wufei balled his fist up, wanting very much to hit her but thought better of it. That only made Lily's fun even better. Getting people angry at her was her specialty.  
  
"Blondie," motioning to Quatre, "is Arabian and loves to be with the Magunacs. You are very nice and hate to kill. Your best friend is Circus Boy over there. You pilot the gundam Sandrock. I wouldn't want to get you mad though. After your dad and sister, Irea, died you went psycho on everyone. You were worse than the anti social suicidal maniac who tried to kill himself a million times." Quatre laughed nervously, wishing to forget that day.  
  
"Circus Boy, whose race in unknown and pilots the gundam Heavyarms, is why you went back to your normal self. He risked his life, in the process losing his memory. His sister is Kathryne Bloom and the two work in the circus which is why I call him Circus Boy." Trowa showed no feelings or emotions on how he felt about Lily knowing some of his past. He really didn't care anyway... what he wanted to know was why she was here and what exactly she wanted.  
  
"And how do you know all this?" asked Heero.  
  
"I do my homework," answered Lily. "If you did too you probably would know about me, but you don't. Some Perfect Soldier you are."  
  
"And what would you know?" He knew that she already knew a lot but doubted on her knowing anymore. How much could one person know anyway?  
  
"I know which colonies each of you comes from. You are from L1. Circus Boy is from L3, Sexist Pig from L5, Braid Boy from L2 and Blondie from L4. Braid Boy considers himself Shinigami. I consider him Bakagami. You really do love Relena but won't tell her. Circus Boy is probably the smartest out of all of you and Sexist Pig the weakest. You the strongest and Blondie the nicest. Braid Boy the 'hyper happy go lucky I don't care what people think of me because I'm Shinigami one'. Would you like me to go on?" All five pilots shook their heads. "Well, now that I have proven my point, I'll be going now." This time she left for real, leaving the five pilots to wonder what they were in for now.  
  
* * *  
  
Duo walked down his normal ally, pondering about the new girl, Lily. "Cute, but freaky. I wonder why she's like that anyway. Who is she and why is she here?"  
  
"Yes ma'am," he heard a familiar female voice say. "I've found them." Looking around the corner he saw Lily on the phone. "Yes ma'am." She hung up and turned to look at Duo.  
  
"Oh Braid Boy, hi." She didn't smile, simply just nodded her head and began to walk away.  
  
"What do you have against us?" asked Duo as she walked right by him.  
  
"I don't have anything against you." She stopped and turned back around to look at him. "I'm just doing my job."  
  
"But we could be your friends," he explained.  
  
"I have no friends. I don't need any. They would just get in the way. They always have and they always will." She continued walking and left him.  
  
"But we could help you," he whispered. "Why are you like this Lily? I can see it in your eyes... You need friends. You're lonely, but scared. Why?" He sighed and continued down the ally to the gundam base.  
  
* * *  
  
"What do you mean a new pilot?" asked Wufei. "And who would that be?"  
  
"Well Wufei, you just have to wait and meet her," said Sally Po. Lt. Noin agreed.  
  
"She is a lot like you guys. Very anti-social, just not suicidal. Very athletic and very much into her missions. To her though, all men are weak, meaning all of you."  
  
"It's a girl?" asked Duo. "This cannot be happening. How did a girl end up getting put on the team? In fact, how did a girl even become a gundam pilot?" Sally and Noin just ignored the last two comments and went on about the new pilot.  
  
"Yes well here she is." A young girl walked in, but was covered head to toe. Sally laughed nervously. "Guess I forgot to tell you that you can't see what she looks like. This is Yuriko." Yuriko bowed her head slightly. She wore a black dress and a few veils that covered her face and hair. She was very petite and stood at about five feet and one inch.  
  
"You will work with her on you next mission," explained Lt. Noin. "But first of all you will train."  
  
"If she's a gundam pilot then where is her gundam?" asked Quatre.  
  
"We were getting there," explained Noin.  
  
"Look behind you, behind all of your gundams," ordered Sally. At first they just gave each other wierd looks, but then they finally turned. Right there stood a red gundam with a silence glaive hooked to it's back and a gun strapped to the gundam's leg. "This is Fire Storm, Yuriko's gundam." The g- boys all gawked at the new model which was obviously better than theirs. It was more high tech and there were more gadgets to it.  
  
"Fire Storm?" Wufei looked at Noin and Sally and raised an eyebrow. "Why such a name?"  
  
"You'll see when you use the gundams to fight," explained Sally.  
  
* * *  
  
"Geez, are you sure she's a girl?" Duo, who now had a black eye, popped his jaw back into place.  
  
"She's fast," commented Heero, who popped a broken arm back into place.  
  
"She dodged all our blows," observed Trowa. He rubbed his now throbbing head.  
  
"She must train hard," explained Quatre. He had come out of it without a scratch, except for when he had been kicked in the stomach, which didn't seem to hurt anymore.  
  
"She is still weak." All four g-boys glared at Wufei who had two black eyes, a broken arm and visible bruises on his arms and face. "She doesn't deserve to fight."  
  
"Look who's talking," said Duo. "She beat the crap out of you. We can all tell she really doesn't like you. A girl and you still got beat." Wufei growled, not wanting to accept the truth.  
  
"The weak one's are the one's who don't know when to give up." The five g- boys jumped as Yuriko walked into the room. "I guess then Wufei, that would make you the weak one. You only got hurt that much because you wouldn't surrender." Wufei glared at her but said nothing only because he knew that she was telling the truth. Not that he would ever admit that.  
  
"Now now everyone," interrupted Sally. "No more fighting. You can do that tomorrow when you train some more. Now let's go greet our guest."  
  
"A guest?" Heero looked at Sally, and she grinned.  
  
"Oh, you should be happy Heero. She traveled a long way." Eyeing her suspiciously Heero went to the main room, followed by the remaining g-boys and Sally Po.  
  
"Heero!" Relena jumped up from her seat and ran over to him.  
  
"Well, what have we got here?" Yuriko walked in. "Queen Relena." She bowed.  
  
"Oh Yuriko. I almost forgot that you were going to be here." Relena smiled at the girl, only making Yuriko glare at her. She didn't like Relena. In fact, she didn't like anyone. But more than anything or anyone, she really hated Relena.  
  
"Relena, you know her?" asked Heero.  
  
"Of course. I sent her." This surprised all the g-boys. Relena actually knew a violent girl like her? The silent anti-social non-people ones must somehow be attracted to her.  
  
"Queen Relena," started Yuriko "if I may ask, why are you here?"  
  
"Yeah, why are you here?" asked Heero who raised an eyebrow suspiciously at Relena.  
  
"Actually, I came to check on Yuriko." Yuriko only glared at her. "I was afraid that maybe she had gotten out of control again. I wanted to make sure that she didn't kill any of the guys yet." All the g-boys stared wide- eyed.  
  
"You know, that's not fair!" stated Duo. "Why send her if you don't trust her? Besides, I think the only one that you'd have to worry about her killing is Wufei." Under her mask Yuriko silently laughed. She liked these guys, especially Duo, but she would never admit it. But wait! She couldn't like them. She had a promise, one that she planned on keeping. Quickly, she stopped her laughing and looked at Relena.  
  
"Oh?" Relena looked at the bruised and beaten Wufei. "I see."  
  
"That's not the only reason you came, is it, Queen Relena?" The five g-boys looked at Yuriko and Relena shook her head.  
  
"No, it's not. I actually came to talk to you about a new mission, Yuriko." Relena took a deep breath. She knew how Yuriko could get when she was mad and right now she didn't feel like getting Yuriko angry. "I want you to go tell your friend to go to OZ and find out their new plans." Yuriko nodded. A mission to her was very important, and she never failed them, neither did her so-called friend.  
  
"You have a friend that we don't know about?" asked Duo.  
  
"She's not a friend. And why couldn't you tell her that yourself, Queen Relena?"  
  
"I would of, but I found you first. Is that a problem?" Yuriko shook her head. "Good. I should be going back now." She turned and walked out of the room.  
  
"Thank goodness," exclaimed Yuriko as she walked out of the room. Duo watched her as she left.  
  
"Guess she doesn't like Relena either." Duo shrugged and he too walked out of the room. The remaining pilots looked at each other and followed.  
  
* * *  
  
Lily sat up in a tree and watched as OZ loaded new mobile suits onto a carrier. Thanks to Relena she was stuck on this mission. She looked at her watch. She got ready to leave when she saw a certain someone that she hated walk out.  
  
Standing up, she watched him. "I thought he was dead." Glaring, she jumped out of the tree. "Omae o korosu." 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Lily walked into class and sat down in her seat. Behind her she could hear the g-boys talking about the new female pilot. Smirking, she thought, Yuriko must have done a good job yesterday. She went back to being serious as she thought about the night before. He had shown up... the last person she ever expected to see. Why was he alive though?  
  
"Yuriko is pretty good," admitted Duo.  
  
"I don't trust her," stated Heero.  
  
"You don't trust anyone," explained Quatre.  
  
"Well, I don't trust her either," put in Wufei.  
  
"I do." The four boys looked over at their companion, Trowa. "There's something about her." Lily listened even more, wondering how Trowa can trust someone he doesn't know. "Really, I don't think that's her real personality." Lily's eyes went wide. Trowa looked at her. "Same with Lily." Lily took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. If anything, she hated it when people thought that they knew her. "I think that deep down, they might be nice people."  
  
Lily jumped up out of her chair and turned to look him straight in the eye. "Nice? I'll give you nice!" She punched him, sending him and his chair back into the wall. "There's your nice!" She looked at the other four. "And just to let you know, it's not over yet. He's still alive." Gathering all her stuff, she walked out of class. No one ever called her nice, especially someone who didn't know her. She hated being called nice. She wasn't... not at all.  
  
"Geez, remind me not to ever get her mad," said Duo. All the other pilots agreed.  
  
"So who do you think she was talking about?" asked Quatre. The others shrugged. They didn't know. They all heard the bell ring and left. They figured that they would just think about it later, but truth be... they never did.  
  
* * *  
  
Arriving at the base, the five boys looked for Yuriko, but she wasn't there. Wufei found Sally walking by and stopped her.  
  
"Where's Yuriko?"  
  
Sally smiled. "Well, that's easy. Not here." Wufei growled. That wasn't the answer he had wanted.  
  
"Look woman! I asked you a question."  
  
"And I answered. Now if you don't mind, I have work to do." Sally quickly walked away before he could say anything else.  
  
"Maybe Yuriko's not as perfect as we thought," commented Duo.  
  
"No," said Heero. "That's not it. Sally obviously thought it was funny that she wasn't here." Duo shrugged.  
  
"But why wouldn't she show up without warning us?" asked Quatre.  
  
"She's very independent," stated Trowa. "She probably thought that we would try to help her or stop her. She makes her own decisions obviously." Wufei glared at him.  
  
"Still think she's nice too? Lily already proved that she wasn't." Inside he smiled.  
  
"Hai. They are hiding their true personality. And I think that the two are connected somehow."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Heero.  
  
"Well, if you think about it, both girls showed up the very same day and they sure do act a lot alike, except for the slight differences. Lily is a very sarcastic and non caring person and Yuriko is a very serious fighter who focuses on nothing but her missions."  
  
"So you think that the two are working together?" asked Duo. Trowa nodded.  
  
"You might be right," explained Heero. "We should keep an eye on those two." Everyone nodded. There was no way they could trust them. Not now anyway.  
  
* * *  
  
Lily walked around the OZ mobile suit room. She slipped behind a leg for one of them. A few soldiers walked into the room.  
  
she pulled out two guns and flipped out from where she was hiding. The soldiers each pulled out their guns and started shooting at her. Lily found that there were only five of them.  
  
Dodging all their gunshots she hid behind another mobile suit. She jumped back out and started firing, killing two of them. With her left gun she hit one on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. She kicked another in the stomach and shot the last one.  
  
Putting her guns away, she made sure that no more soldiers were coming. When she was sure that there were no more, she jumped into one of the mobile suits. Pushing a few keys, she smiled.  
  
"Oh, fun." She pulled out her laptop and punched a few keys. "Looks like I've found the destruct system for all of them." She punched in a code and put her laptop back. She jumped out of the mobile suit, counting down as she ran out of OZ.  
  
As soon as she stepped out she counted one and a loud explosion could be heard. She jumped into a ditch and the whole place went. Finally stepping out she said, "Now all that I have to take care of is him."  
  
* * *  
  
The next day Lily sat in class doing her schoolwork as the g-boys talked behind her.  
  
"Someone destroyed an OZ base?" Duo looked at the other g-boys. "How?"  
  
"I don't know," answered Heero. "It happened last night."  
  
"Whoever it was is good," said Quatre. "I heard all they had for weapons were guns."  
  
"Yeah and I heard it was a girl," explained Wufei.  
  
"Do you think it could have been Yuriko?" asked Trowa. The other g-boys looked at him. He could be right. This was Trowa who was talking.  
  
Lily looked back at them. "Nope, not Yuriko. Someone else." They looked at her. She knew who?  
  
"So you know who?" asked Trowa.  
  
"Is it any of your business?" Lily asked back. Then she looked at Duo. "But if you must know then..." Duo looked up in hope. Was she going to tell them? "Find out yourselves." All five g-boys grumbled as Lily smirked and turned back to the front of the class.  
  
"Well, it's not like it could have been you," commented Wufei. "You may be smart but I bet that you're weak." Lily felt her anger rising and turned back once again.  
  
"And how would you know? What if it was me huh? Then would you think me weak?" Wufei backed away. He had a feeling he had gone too far. Geez, Lily got angry easy. First it was Trowa and now him. "You baka sexist pig! You don't know anything."  
  
"Well," started Trowa. "Was it you?" Lily took a deep breath.  
  
"Not that it's any of your business but yes. Now excuse me. I've work that's due at the end of class." She turned and started working.  
  
The g-boys couldn't believe it. Lily destroyed an OZ base? How could a girl so small that looks so fragile destroy that whole base? There was more to this girl than they thought. Maybe Yuriko would know. Yeah right! Like she would ever tell them even if she did know. Sighing, they each hung their heads.  
  
* * *  
  
Yuriko sat back in her chair. Smiling through her cloth, she looked at the g-boys. She liked all of them. Even Wufei. Before she came on this mission she thought that she would hate them all. Looks like she was wrong. Getting rid of her hidden smile, she stood up. She went over to the g-boys.  
  
"Shall we train now?" She watched as they all backed away and couldn't help but smile. "I won't try to kill any of you this time." She looked at Wufei. "Even you." Wufei's eyes went wide. He thought that Yuriko had hated him. "In fact, this time I'll just help you guys with your fighting skills." She still didn't let on that she was smiling though.  
  
"Uh...sure," said Duo, who was the first to step forward. Sighing, Yuriko wondered why she was being so nice. Wasn't she supposed to hate them? Especially since they were guys. Growling, she remembered why she hated all guys. They were all jerks and you could never trust them.  
  
Hearing her growl, they stepped back even farther. This girl was crazy and there was no way that they would ever trust her again. Not after that little display.  
  
"Excuse me. I have to stuff that I need to take care of." They watched Yuriko exit the room and sighed. That girl was dangerous. Even Heero knew better than to mess with her.  
  
Four of the g-boys each glared at Trowa. Backing away, he had trapped himself in a corner.  
  
"Still think she's nice?" asked a very angry Heero. "Cuz I sure as hell don't think so." Trowa found himself laughing nervously.  
  
"Well maybe she just needs some time," he answered. "I'm sure she'll calm after awhile."  
  
"Oh, you're sure are you?" He could feel Wufei's glare turn into daggers.  
  
"She's nice. Really. We shouldn't rush her."  
  
"Nice?" Now it was Duo's turn. "She's out to kill us. You saw what she did to Wufei that day."  
  
"Well..." Trowa tried to think of more excuses.  
  
"Well nothing!" he heard Quatre shout. The sound of Quatre shouting made him wince.  
  
"Okay! I get the point. Geez! She isn't nice." Finally the four boys backed away and Trowa breathed a sigh of relief. Shakily walking out of the corner he took a seat on the nearest chair, the others leaving him.  
  
"They're right." He turned to the doorway to see Yuriko walk towards him. "I'm not nice. You'd best not say I am either. Who knows what I might do to you. And just to let you know, I don't hesitate to kill anyone. Right now Trowa, you're on the top of my hate list." Before he could say anything, she turned and walked out of the room.  
  
Slumping even further into the chair, he cursed at himself. "Why does she have to be so mean? Well, I know I'm right about Lily. Even if she never smiles and even if she's always sarcastic, it shows in her eyes. Something happened, I just know it." Getting up, he went to go join his friends.  
  
* * *  
  
"We can't just kick her off the team," explained Noin. "First off, Relena sent her. Second off, she's the best fighter we have." At the last one, she heard the g-boys groan. "I know that none of you like her but you have to learn to work together. We need her and we also need all of you. Please try to get along with her." After a few groans she got a few nods. "Thank you. Now here she comes."  
  
Yuriko walked into the room and looked around at everyone. "What?" She turned to face Sally Po, who leaned against the wall. "If you think I'm training with them again then you're wrong. There's no point in it for me, I'll just end up beating them again." Sally pushed herself away from the wall and walked over to Yuriko.  
  
"Don't worry Yuriko. You don't have to. Relena is however thinking about returning you to him, even if he is married."  
  
"NANI?!" Yuriko balled up her fist. She felt her eyes start to sting and fought the urge to cry. "Excuse me." She quickly ran out of the room and the g-boys felt that they were missing out on something.  
  
* * *  
  
Taking a few deep breaths, Yuriko leaned against the tree that she had just climbed in. "That bastard." One of these days Yuriko would get her revenge. She was going to kill that jerk, even if it killed her in the process.  
  
She must have been lost in thought because when Duo asked if she was all right she jumped, falling out of the tree. Not knowing what to do, she tried to grab onto something. She felt strong arms catch her and gasped when she was Duo holding her.  
  
"Are you alright?" He looked really worried as he set her down. At her unsure nod he shook his head. "Gomen. I didn't mean to scare you."  
  
"Iye. It's all right. It's my fault for not paying attention." Duo just stared at her, wishing that he could see what she looked like. He believed Trowa, but only because of those few moments that Yuriko would let her guard down. It's only been three days since Yuriko's been here and already Duo was starting to like her, but only as a friend.  
  
"I should go." He watched as Yuriko walked away. She was a very mysterious girl, which made him want to get to know her even more. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
A week later and obviously the g-boys had just got done with another painful training with Yuriko. Grumbling, they each slumped into a chair. Sally just had to convince her to train, didn't she? Yuriko watched the beaten boys.  
  
Shaking her head, Yuriko left the room. When she walked back in, she was carrying sodas for each of them. When she handed each a drink, they all looked at her with confused expressions before she walked back out of the room.  
  
"I guess she has softened a little," explained Quatre. The others nodded still staring at the doorway. After a few minutes, they each began to relax and sip at their soda.  
  
"She's still rude most the time," said Wufei. They all had to agree. "I don't like her."  
  
"Who does?" asked Heero. No one answered that. "See?"  
  
"If you want to hate me then go ahead." They each jumped when Yuriko walked into the room and grabbed her bag. "Personally I don't care. It's not my fault that all of you are weak. Why I even train with you I don't know. None of you are a match for me." They all growled at her.  
  
"Weak? We aren't weak," Quatre said in a sickeningly sweet voice that made Yuriko feel sick to the stomach. "We may not be as strong as you, but we aren't weak." Yuriko rolled her eyes, not that they could see it, but she did.  
  
"You're all weak. Just admi..." Yuriko was interrupted before she could finish.  
  
"Hello everyone." Lady Une stood in the opening of the doorway as everyone jumped, even Yuriko. Smiling, she walked in.  
  
"Oh, Lady Une." Yuriko walked over to her. "Is everything alright?" The g- boys were shocked that Yuriko was speaking to her in a sweet and calm voice.  
  
"Nothing is wrong Yuriko. Me and Mariemaia just decided to come and visit you." Under her cloths Yuriko smiled. Lady Une looked at all the g-boys. "There's nothing for you boys to be gawking at. Yuriko can be nice when she wants. Just not to guys." Yuriko found herself smiling. Each g-boy quickly regained their composure, but continued to look at Yuriko.  
  
"Thank you very much for coming to visit me. I'd like to go talk to Mariemaia now if you don't mind."  
  
"No, not at all dear. Go on ahead." With a slight bow, Yuriko left the room. "Such a nice girl she is."  
  
"Nice? That girl hates us," shouted Duo. All the other g-boys nodded in agreement, and were surprised to hear Lady Une laugh at them.  
  
"I already told you that she hates guys."  
  
"But why?" asked Quatre. Lady Une just frowned and sighed.  
  
"It's up to her if she wants to tell any of you. Not me. I doubt that she'll tell you though."  
  
"Let her decide then," said Wufei. "That doesn't change the fact that I hate her. Nothing can."  
  
"Oh I doubt that Wufei. There's a lot to Yuriko that you don't know and might never find out. But I guess I'll leave that up to you five. I'll be going now." They watched as she turned and walked out of the room.  
  
"Hmph! So what?" Heero grumbled. "Until I find out I'm going to continue to hate her." They walked out of the room and down the hall.  
  
They walked by a room and listened as Mariemaia talked. They were about to leave when they heard someone laughing, and it wasn't Mariemaia. Looking into the room, they saw Yuriko.  
  
Mariemaia must have seen them there because she motioned to them and Yuriko got angry. Picking up her bag, she shoved her way through them.  
  
Taking a hold of Yuriko's arm, Heero spun her around to face him. "Maybe you should grow up and tell us why you hate guys so much."  
  
Yuriko pulled her arm away and slapped him. "It's none of your business." Turning, she ran away thinking, I won't cry. I just won't.  
  
"Heero-san?" Heero turned to Mariemaia and she shook her head at him. "Please don't do that to Yuriko. You may not be able to tell but she hides a lot of her feeling under those cloths of hers. Just because she may sound mean and tough, she's actually very hurt."  
  
"By what?" asked Duo.  
  
"I can't tell you," said Mariemaia. "It's not of my choice. But I can tell you this. She will open up eventually. Just give her sometime. She's already getting there. She was telling me how each of you can be nice and that she really likes all of you. But she's scared."  
  
"Scared? Of what?" Heero looked at her.  
  
"Of guys. Of getting hurt again."  
  
"She's scared of us?" Trowa's eyes went wide. She sure didn't act like it.  
  
"Wow," said Quatre. "I never thought about it but you may be right. We've never seen Yuriko's face so we could never tell what she was feeling."  
  
Each pilot took a seat and started thinking about how they've been acting lately. The only thing that made it worse was that they were always talking about her behind her back and she always heard them. They realized that Yuriko never really did anything mean to them, only during training or if they were talking about her.  
  
Duo stood up. "I'm gonna go talk to her."  
  
"But you don't even now where she went," explained Heero.  
  
"I have a pretty good idea." Seriousness filled his voice and no one said anything more.  
  
Eyeing the door, Mariemaia said, "I think that Duo's the key." The remaining g-boys looked at her. "He's the key to getting her to open up."  
  
* * *  
  
Yuriko sat on her normal tree and sighed. It wasn't fair. She wanted to be friends with them, really she did, but she couldn't. She promised herself that she wouldn't be friends with another guy. And even if she hadn't made that promise, they still wouldn't be her friends. They hated her. "I JUST WANT TO BE FRIENDS!!" she shouted then punched the tree, breaking skin. Blood dripped as she just stared at her hand.  
  
"Then be friends." Firm hands wrapped around her just before she could fall out of the tree. She turned and looked into those bright cobalt blue eyes of Duo's, getting lost in them. "Then be friends. Please Yuriko?" He took her hand into his and bandaged it.  
  
"Duo? W...why are you being so nice? Especially the way I've treated all of you lately?"  
  
"Because I want to be. Come on inside."  
  
Yuriko shook her head. "Iye, but...arigatou Duo-kun." She gave him a quick hug then ran off leaving a very shocked Duo.  
  
* * *  
  
Duo sat with the other g-boys and Mariemaia, smiling.  
  
"So how did it go?" asked Heero, surprised to see Duo's smile grow.  
  
"Just fine Heero. Just fine." He leaned back in his chair.  
  
"Lily!" At the mention of thee name all five g-boys looked up, Duo falling back in his chair.  
  
"Hi Mariemaia." 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
"Lily?" Duo stood up and all g-boys stared wide-eyed at her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" asked Heero. He watched as Lily walked into the room and over to Mariemaia.  
  
"My job." All the g-boys looked at her questioningly. "I get Mariemaia ever Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday to watch her while Lady Une does other things. Really though, I guess you can say I'm like family. Lady Une raised me since I was five." The g-boys couldn't believe it. They had already known about her family. Maybe that's how Lily knew so much about them. "And no, Lady Une wasn't the one who told me about you five. I wasn't with her the month that I had to study about you. It was actually very easy and definitely very amusing. I swear Blondie, if you love Circus Boy so much why not tell him? Ne, Triton Bloom?" She laughed as Quatre's and Trowa's face went beet red.  
  
"Don't call me that!" shouted Trowa. "My name is Trowa Barton. Not Tri..."  
  
"Triton Bloom?" Veins popped out as he watched the other g-boys, Lily and Mariemaia all roll in laughter.  
  
"SHUT UP!" But no one stopped. They all continued laughing so hard that they were crying.  
  
"What's going on in here?" Everyone looked up as Noin walked into the room.  
  
"Oh, Lucretzia." Lily bowed slightly. "I was just talking with these boys."  
  
"Oh. And how many times must I tell you that everyone calls me Noin?"  
  
"Well Lucretzia, as you know, old habits are very hard to break." Noin rolled her eyes, smiled and nodded.  
  
"I guess you're right Lily." Happy about Noin giving up, she decided that it was finally time to go.  
  
"I'll be taking Mariemaia now." She grabbed the handles of Mariemaia's chair and pushed her out of the room. "Ja ne minna!" Then the two girls were gone, soon followed by Noin.  
  
"Ya know," started Duo, "I think that Yuriko and Lily are hiding something from us." The other g-boys agreed.  
  
* * *  
  
"Well Mariemaia dear," a smiling Lily said. "Where do you want to go?"  
  
"Ice cream! Ice cream!" Lily laughed and the two headed to the nearest ice cream parlor.  
  
Once there, Lily set Mariemaia at a table and said, "Wait here. I'll be right back." At Mariemaia's nod she left to go get some ice cream.  
  
"Well, you must be Mariemaia." Mariemaia looked up to see a young man with black hair and violet eyes wearing an OZ uniform.  
  
"What do you want?" asked Mariemaia. "Why are you here?"  
  
"Well, as you can see, many OZ soldiers are out today." He motioned around and sure enough he was right.  
  
"That still doesn't explain how you know my name. So tell me now, what do you want from me?"  
  
"Dear Mariemaia, you are a very smart girl." Mariemaia snorted and glared at the guy. "You must come with me. There are things that need to be taken care of."  
  
"What are you...?" But before she could finish, the guy snatched her up and started to run off. Mariemaia didn't know what to do except scream. "Lily! HELP ME!!" The guy placed his hand over Mariemaia's mouth and the two disappeared around a corner.  
  
Lily had thought that she heard Mariemaia shout and ran out to see what was wrong. When she saw the abandoned wheelchair she dropped the ice cream and began to panic. She had no idea what to do, but she sure as hell had a good idea about where to look. She snatched up her bags and stormed off to the OZ base. Forget about asking for help. She was going to get Mariemaia back now. There would be no waiting.  
  
* * *  
  
Lady Une sat in her office going over some paperwork for Yuriko. She looked at her clock and sighed. "Lily and Mariemaia should be back by now. I wonder where they are." She sat back in her chair and thought for a moment. "Well it is Lily. I'd trust that girl with my life so I guess everything is alright." She smiled and went back to work.  
  
* * *  
  
"Damn OZ soldiers." Lily examined all the entrances and decided that she couldn't enter in any of those doors. She ran over to a wall and jumped over it. "Looks like the pool." She found a nearby tree and climbed it. Finding an empty room, she went in. "Now I just need to find Mariemaia." Turning on a computer in the room, she started to search each room in the base. "What the heck! She's not listed here."  
  
"Of course not Lily-sama." She felt something poke her in the back of the head and then heard the click of a gun. Lily turned around and looked at a young boy who stood there before her. He looked about her age. He had short curly black hair and gray eyes. He was a little taller than her by three inches. He looked well trained and muscles could be seen through his uniform.  
  
Lily arched an eyebrow. "Lily-sama?"  
  
"Well, why not? That's your people call you isn't it?" The boy smirked. "That's what my parents called you."  
  
"I do not know what you are talking about you idiot boy. I have no people. I do not own anyone and most certainly didn't know your parents."  
  
"DON'T LIE TO ME DAMN IT!!" he shouted. "You used to prance around in your pretty little black or red dresses, letting everyone admire you. One toss of your head and you had every boy's attention."  
  
"Like I said, I don't know what you're talking about." She calmed and took a hold of her anger. "Tell me, where is Mariemaia."  
  
He laughed. "On her way to another OZ base in space. We knew that you would come and so we sent her off early."  
  
"YOU WHAT?!" She balled up her fist and attempted to punch him only to be knocked down by his kick. She felt blood drip down her arm and growled. Bringing her feet around, she tried to knock him off his feet. He jumped over her feet and smiled down at her.  
  
"You're pretty good Lily-sama, but not good enough." He flipped behind her and slipped a knife at her throat. He ran his free hand through her hair. "You're very pretty Lily-sama. Too bad you don't agree with OZ. We might have been able to get together."  
  
"Who would want to be with an egotistical asshole like you?"  
  
"Shut up!" He pulled the knife closer to her throat and drew blood. "You want to be with me. You just don't know it yet." He turned her around and forced his lips onto hers. Lily tried to push him away to no avail. Finally he pulled away and Lily threw him across the room, but he landed on his feet.  
  
"What the..." Lily felt her panic start to rise. "Who the hell are you?" He started to laugh and Lily felt cold chills travel up her spine.  
  
"You mean you don't remember me Lily-sama? Oh why would you? I look different now. Can you believe that it's been one whole year since we've seen each other?" Lily raised an eyebrow, still trying to figure out who this weirdo was. "Still don't know Lily-sama?" He got in close, gazing into her eyes and wrapped his arms around her waist. "How 'bout this Lily...chan." Lily's eyes went wide. This could not be happening.  
  
"K...Koji? Koji-san?" The young boy smiled and brought Lily closer to him.  
  
"Hai, my beloved."  
  
"Iye! Get away from me!" Lily tried to push away from him. "Leave me alone. What about you precious wife, huh?" Koji pushed away and slapped her.  
  
"Shut up! Don't you dare even bring her up. This is between me and you. Not me and her." Lily smirked knowing that she had struck a nerve. "Forget you. I don't need you anyway." He walked out leaving her to the room by herself. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked up. Then realization hit her. There on the table in front of her sat a small set of bombs already counting down.  
  
Five  
  
"Oh shit!"  
  
Four  
  
Lily jumped up.  
  
Three  
  
She ran to the window.  
  
Two  
  
Throwing it open, she jumped out.  
  
One  
  
BOOM!! Lily was thrown across the yard and in the wall that she had jumped over earlier. Rubble smacked against her and fire spread.  
  
A helicopter hovered over her and a frightened little girl could be seen reaching for her.  
  
"Lily! Lily!" Another guy, Koji, looked out and smiled at Lily. Then he grabbed Mariemaia and pulled her back in, the helicopter then speeding off.  
  
"Ma...Mariemaia." Lily reached her hand out as everything went blurry and she fainted.  
  
* * *  
  
It was an hour later and Lily had a major headache. Opening her eyes, that night's events came rushing back to her. Slowly she forced herself up, using the wall to steady herself. She groaned in pain and cursed at herself.  
  
"I'll get you back Mariemaia. I promise." She balled up her fist and growled. "And I'll kill that bastard Koji if it's the last thing I ever do." Using the wall she began her journey back to the base.  
  
* * *  
  
"Where the hell is she?" you could hear Lady Une shout through the whole g- base. Inside the room you could see five terrified g-boys slouched in a corner, a desperate Noin and Sally, and an angry Une.  
  
"Look, I'm sure she'll be back soon," Noin tried to assure her. "There's nothing to worry about. They probably just had a lot of fun and lost track of time."  
  
"Lost track of time?" shouted Une. "I don't think so. She always brings Mariemaia back at nine. It's almost eleven. I don't think that they lost track of time."  
  
"Well I'm positive that they'll be back any minute now," explained Sally.  
  
"Damn right..."a grunt then, "I'll be here." Everyone turned to the doorway and a battered Lily stumbled in. She made it in a collapsed.  
  
Everyone ran over to her. Duo helped her up and they each helped her to the couch.  
  
"Lily, what happened?" asked a now very worried Une. "And where's Mariemaia?"  
  
"Mariemaia was kidnapped," Lily answered. "I went to go save her and ran into a certain someone. Koji." Une, Sally and Noin all gasped and the g- boys just stared, confused. "Anyway, we got into a fight and Lord knows he's the only one who can beat me. He tricked me and left, leaving a bomb in the room. I got out just in the nick of time but they got away with Mariemaia."  
  
"Oh my. What could they possibly want with her?" asked Une.  
  
"Only Lord knows but I swear that I will kill that damn bastard if it's the last thing I do."  
  
"Well what do we do now?" asked Duo.  
  
"You five will take your gundams and head to OZ base three. It's by colony L3."  
  
"And what about you?" asked Heero, knowing that something was up.  
  
"She'll go find Yuriko while we stay here and direct you in your mission," answered Une. "Now everyone, get going." Everyone nodded and went off.  
  
Each g-boy went to their gundams. Pushing a few buttons, they each set off one by one in mobile suit carriers.  
  
"Ok Lt. Noin. We're on our way now," explained Quatre. "We'll let you know when we arrive."  
  
"Alright. I'll stand by till then."  
  
* * *  
  
"I'm ready to go." Back at the base Yuriko walked in and Noin smiled.  
  
"Good. Your mobile suit carrier and gundam are ready for you. You should go now."  
  
"Hai." Then Yuriko ran off and jumped into her carrier. Pushing an amount of buttons, she too took off.  
  
"I just hope that they get Mariemaia back." Sally and Noin looked at their friend Une, not knowing what to do. They wished that they could comfort her but they had work to do. Obviously Une knew this because she shook her head at her friends and went off to do her own work for the six pilots. "They'll get her back. I trust them." Noin and Sally nodded, thought the same thing and went off to work.  
  
"We're here." Duo's face showed up on the screen. You'd never be able to guess that Duo is always cheerful and happy go lucky. If looks could kill, Duo's look on his face would kill every bastard behind this whole mess.  
  
"Good." Noin went up to the screen. "To the right there is an opening that no one uses or ever guards. Use that to get in."  
  
"Got ya!" Duo's picture disappeared and Noin sighed. Sitting at a computer she began to type away.  
  
* * *  
  
"This is the opening. Let's go," instructed Duo. Everyone nodded and followed. Landing their carriers, three in front, three in back, they each climbed out and looked around.  
  
"Let's find Mariemaia. Then we'll attack." Yuriko looked at all the g-boys, getting approving nods from each of them. "Good. Let's go." 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Ok, I know that I haven't done this at all for this story yet, but do you think that I really want to? Alright alright, here I go. I.... do.... not.... own.... any of the characters... from Gundam Wing... *mutters* Unfortunately. I do how ever own Lily and Yuriko. I made them up. ME people... ME!!!!!!!! Mwahahahaha!!!!........... *blink blink* Ok, I'm done now. *nervous laugh and sweatdrop* Enjoy the story.  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"Mariemaia should be on the second floor in room 526B," explained Yuriko, signing off of one of the OZ computers. She turned around in the chair that she was sitting in and stared at the G-boys. Finally their first mission together and Yuriko had to admit that they weren't all that bad, but she still didn't like them, or so she thought.  
  
"Ok. Shall we go then?" asked Duo. Yuriko nodded and the six pilots ran off to head to the second floor. No need to ask. That one was a given.  
  
* * *  
  
"What? Who the hell is that person?" Koji pointed onto a screen at Yuriko who was obviously directing the boys where to go. "And where the hell is Lily? I know she's still alive!" The soldiers that he was yelling at just scurried around the room and tried to figure out who the new person was.  
  
"Sir, she..." he emphasized the word she, "is a new pilot training with the other pilots."  
  
"What? You mean to tell me that there is another gundam pilot out there? And what do you mean she?"  
  
"Well it seems that this pilot's name is Yuriko and the records have her down as a girl. No one has ever seen what she looks like except for a few people," explained the soldier. "She is very skilled and hasn't been beaten once yet."  
  
"Hmm...hasn't been beaten yet, huh?" He sounded very interested by now. "We'll see about that. Is there anything else about her?" The soldier looked on the screen again and read some more of Yuriko's profile.  
  
"Well, it says that she is somehow connected to Lily Hino but it doesn't say how sir."  
  
"Connected to Lily, huh? Find out more about this girl. I think I might go and have a small chat with her. At least the boys showed up. Lily probably knew it was a trap." Koji smiled and walked off. The soldier stared at him and sighed.  
  
"God, I hope Yuriko can beat that bastard. I'll have to visit her today."  
  
"She your girlfriend Timmy?" asked another soldier. Timmy shook his head. "Wait! Did you say that she was connected to Lily Hino?" Timmy smiled and nodded. "Isn't Lily your little sister?"  
  
"Yup and I'm very proud of her."  
  
"Don't worry Timmy. We'll shut down OZ and that bastard that now runs it. I hate Koji. He just doesn't deserve to live. Especially with what happened to your sister."  
  
"Damn right he doesn't." Timmy was glad that his friend Daichi was here to help. Together they would defeat that bastard. For Lily and Yuriko. It would even be good for the entire Universe.  
  
* * *  
  
"Are we almost there?" asked Duo.  
  
"Almost. Hold on." Yuriko ran to a door and surely it was the room. There on the door was 526B. "Found it." She tried to open the door but it was locked. "Damn." Reaching under one of her veils, she pulled out a small hair clip. Kneeling down, she started to unlock it and opened the door. "Mariemaia?"  
  
On a small cot in the room, Mariemaia was sleeping. Yuriko walked over and kneeled next to the cot. She gently shook Mariemaia in attempt to wake her up.  
  
"Mariemaia, sweetie. Please wake up. Onegai?" The g-boys couldn't believe how soft, sweet and caring Yuriko's voice was. She sounded so innocent and full of love. Was this the real Yuriko? Was this the Yuriko that they would probably never get to know? They liked this Yuriko. It just didn't seem like her at all. She was completely different, the complete opposite of the Yuriko that they knew.  
  
"Hm? Lily?"  
  
"Lily? No sweetie. It's me Yuriko." Mariemaia opened her eyes and looked up at Yuriko. She seemed to frown but they couldn't quite tell in the dark room that they were in.  
  
"Yuriko? Where's Lily?" Mariemaia sat up and glanced at all the g-boys.  
  
"Lily's at home right now resting. She's very much beaten right now and needs to rest. You can see her later. Right now we need to get out of here." Mariemaia smiled and nodded, pushing her frown aside. "You'll go with Quatre back to the gundam base. Lady Une will then take you to visit Lily. Ok?"  
  
"I understand." Yuriko picked Mariemaia up and handed her to Quatre.  
  
"Quatre, take good care of her. I'll have your head if anything happens to her." Quatre smiled.  
  
"I understand Yuriko. I'll protect her as best I can." With that Quatre was out and headed back to his mobile suit carrier.  
  
"Alright. You four will come with me and using our gundams we will attack who did this."  
  
"Who made you boss?" Wufei asked her.  
  
Yuriko glared but then took a deep breath and said calmly, "Wufei, if you have any suggestions then please, be my guest." She smirked when she didn't get an answer. "So my plan it is then. Anyone else disagree with it?" When she got nervous no from everyone they all ran off to finish their mission.  
  
* * *  
  
"Comfortable Mariemaia?" asked Quatre as he set her on a seat.  
  
"Yes Quatre. Thank you for asking." Quatre smiled and sat in his own seat. Pushing a button, he spoke into a speaker.  
  
"This is Quatre. I have Mariemaia and am now headed back to the base. Yuriko and the other pilots will be taking care of the base." He looked back at Mariemaia and his craft took off for home.  
  
* * *  
  
"Did ya hear that Une?" asked Noin. "They found Mariemaia and are headed back now."  
  
"Good. Now what about the battle?"  
  
"We haven't heard anything about that yet. All I know is that Yuriko and the other boys will be taking care of the base," answered Sally. "But I'm sure the battle will start soon, though." Une just stared at the screen sadly.  
  
"I hope they'll be okay. I seriously do."  
  
* * *  
  
"Everyone ready?" asked Yuriko. Five gundams stood outside of the OZ base, ready to battle, Yuriko in front of all of them. She really did seem like a leader, not that the other pilots very much appreciated that. It was their first mission and already Yuriko was taking charge, which was usually Heero's job. He didn't say anything though. He had to admit though. She was very quick and smart when it came to strategies.  
  
"I know I am," answered Duo. "Let's go." Duo though,of course, with his brainless mind, was one of the very few who didn't even think anything of it.  
  
"Right." Yuriko's gundam took off at the base and the remaining four followed suit. Taking the glaive off her gundam's back, Firestorm, Yuriko sliced into the OZ base, Duo following suit with his scythe.  
  
Wing Zero destroyed a section of the base with its beam cannon and Heavyarms and Nataku just randomly shot anywhere possible.  
  
* * *  
  
"What's going on out there?" Koji stumbled to the side when he felt the building shake again. Getting up, he resumed running to the control room.  
  
"You, what's going on?" He pointed to Timmy and watched as the soldier scurried to figure it out.  
  
"Sir, it seems that we're under attack," Daichi answered for Timmy. Timmy just looked up at his friend, happy that someone knew what was going on. But then again, it was Daichi. He was always ahead of everyone else.  
  
"Under attack? By who?"  
  
"It looks like five gundams sir," came Timmy's voice. Now it was his turn, and it really helped to know who exactly was attacking them. "It seems they got Mariemaia and started an attack. What should we do sir?" Not that he cared about what they should do. It was none of his concern to begin with anyway. He was only in this for his sister.  
  
"Send out the Leo's of course." All soldiers ran trying to get their jobs done and to save their base. One by one Leo's were sent out and each time they were destroyed. Daichi and Timmy each slipped to the side.  
  
"Looks like Yuriko and the boys are doing just fine," explained Timmy. Daichi nodded his head.  
  
"Your sister's friend is pretty skilled. I wonder how she'd rank with a battle against your sister. Watch, Lily would still win." Timmy laughed and the two broke into the Leo room. In a way Lily would win, but at the same time so would Yuriko. More likely it would end up a tie.  
  
"Anyway, we have work to do. We have to shut down the Leo's before they send any more out." Daichi nodded and they went to the main computer. "If we can program this right then it will shut down every Leo for a total of twenty four hours."  
  
"Then leave that to me," commented Daichi. He started typing at the computer when he accidentally typed in the wrong thing. "Uh oh. What did I do?" Now mind you, it wasn't normal for Daichi to screw up on the computer but you have to remember. They were under pressure at the moment and in quite a bit of a hurry.  
  
"I don't know. What did you do?" Timmy and Daichi were now at the highest peak of panic.  
  
"Self destruct will now commence in 30 seconds," the computer blurted out.  
  
"Self destruct?" the two chorused. "RUN!!" They started running out of the base, obviously going out the wrong door. Right there, just above them, was the battle, but they had no time to turn back now.  
  
"No time to run anywhere else." Timmy grabbed Daichi's arm and they ran as fast as they could only to be thrown forward by the explosion.  
  
* * *  
  
"What the heck?" Yuriko looked down at the explosion and gasped. There she saw Timmy and Daichi flying forward. "You four. I have to help someone. It will only take a sec," she told the four pilots.  
  
"Go for it," exclaimed Duo. "We can take care of things up here for a few seconds. Just go."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
* * *  
  
"Well, at least now we won't have to worry about them sending out anymore Leo's," Daichi explained and laughed nervously when Timmy glared at him.  
  
"Hm. Well I guess you're right. And it does seem that Koji was caught in the explosion." As soon as he said that a shuttle flew up just above them. Inside you could see a very angry Koji. "Guess I spoke too soon." Timmy and Daichi groaned, watching the shuttle fly away.  
  
"Watch out!" The two boys looked ahead of them and saw a red gundam block a wall of fire from hitting them. It dissipated and the gundam Firestorm looked down at them. "Are you two okay?"  
  
"Perfectly fine," shouted Timmy. "Mind if we join the ride?" Yuriko smiled and opened up her hatch. The two boys climbed up to the cockpit and smiled at her.  
  
"Hey Yuriko," greeted Timmy. "How ya been?"  
  
"Just fine Timmy. Perfectly fine. Let's go."  
  
* * *  
  
"Did you guys just see that?" asked Duo. "I know she said that she was gonna help someone but I didn't expect it to be two guys. And she's even giving them a ride."  
  
"You're kidding me, right?" asked Trowa. "I thought that she hated guys." He would have looked for himself but he was a bit busy with his own problems.  
  
"Maybe family or something," explained Heero. He didn't even bother to really think about it. He just wanted to take care of his own problems and then he would see what was up with Yuriko and the two guys.  
  
"We'll find out later," put in Wufei. "Right now we have a battle to finish." Each pilot agreed and so their conversation ended and they just continued to fight, explosions erupting all around them.  
  
* * *  
  
Yuriko pushed a few buttons in her gundam and wings just like Deathscythe Hell's, only red, spread from Firestorm's back. Yuriko then had the glaive put back and took flight. "Everyone move," she ordered the other pilots.  
  
"No way Yuriko. You need our help. Don't try to fight this battle by yourself," explained Heero.  
  
"I said MOVE!!" Finally each pilot moved. The hands for Yuriko's gundam flipped back and tucked itself into the forearm. "You guys wanted to know why I call my gundam Firestorm, well here's your answer." Out of both arms fire sprayed out and engulfed all the Leo's, causing them to explode. Firestorm's hands returned back to their original place.  
  
"Whoa. Yo Yuriko," came Duo's voice. "Talk about cool. Ya got to let me see your gundam sometime." In the back she could hear Daichi and Timmy laughing.  
  
"Sure Duo. Like I would ever trust you with my gundam," came Yuriko's response and she could hear Duo sigh, making her draw on a secret smile. "Besides," came her soft voice. "I'd rather try yours." On the screen, she laughed when she saw Duo's eyes go wide.  
  
"You...you spoke calmly and...and you said something nice. My God! Plus you laughed. What has this world come to?" Yuriko laughed again and Duo couldn't help but smile. Yuriko even saw the other three pilots smile. She didn't understand it herself really though. It made no sense. She was never this open with guys. Then why?  
  
"Let's go home," ordered Heero and everyone took off. Yuriko was a little relieved. She didn't want to be anymore open with them. She hated to admit it, but it scared her.  
  
"Leaving already Yuriko?" came a very familiar voice.  
  
"NO!!" Yuriko's gundam turned around and there in a shuttle stood Trieze. She could hear gasps from the other pilots and grinded her teeth together.  
  
"What do you want Trieze?" demanded Yuriko. "You should be dead now."  
  
"Oh I should, huh?" Trieze smiled.  
  
"Why? Why did you leave your daughter like that you bastard?"  
  
"Daughter? I have no idea what you're talking about."  
  
"Don't lie to me."  
  
"Leave. Our fight will take place another day..."he paused, smiled then said, "Yuriko." Yuriko felt her anger flare but took a deep breath.  
  
"Omae o korosu, Trieze. I promise you that."  
  
"Best keep your promise Yuriko. I will always remember. Now go." Yuriko growled and flew off, followed by the remaining four pilots.  
  
AN: Ok, that's the end of this chapter. I just wanted to thank Inazuma no Megami for keeping up with my story for this long. Because of her I've been able to keep up my story and post it online. Domo arigatou Inazuma no Megami!!!! And for anyone else who does read this... if anyone else does.... PLEASE REVIEW MY STORY. I DON'T EVEN CARE IF THEY'RE FLAMES!!!! Heh heh, see ya all in the next chapter! 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
The six pilots were tired and angry. Sitting down they couldn't help but complain and argue with each other. Sally, Noin and Une just sat to the side watching. Mariemaia was in a room upstairs sleeping and Yuriko was to the side thinking and listening to the g-boys complain. Treize was alive and she didn't like that. Keep her promise she would. And she would let Lily take care of Koji. He was not of her concern.  
  
"We have to stop Treize," boomed Wufei's voice. "If he's alive and with OZ then he can't be up to no good."  
  
"Wow Wufei," said Yuriko very sarcastically. "Aren't you just such a smart boy?" Wufei felt himself shrink and just glared at Yuriko. "Anyway, even if he wasn't with OZ you would plain out know he was up to something. No one can tell Mariemaia that her dad is alive. I mean it."  
  
"But," started Une.  
  
"No one," interrupted Yuriko. "Not one person. Not even a hint that he's alive. Got me?" Everyone nodded. "Good."  
  
"But what are we going to do about Treize?" asked Quatre.  
  
"Nothing. I'm going to kill him," explained Yuriko.  
  
"But you can't do that alone. You'll need help."  
  
"Don't try to talk her out of it Quatre," ordered Noin. "Once she's made up her mind there's no stopping her. Besides, I think that Yuriko knows what she doing, ne Yuriko?"  
  
"Hai," came Yuriko's cold response.  
  
"I just can't believe he's alive," said Duo. "I mean all this time we thought he was dead and yet he was alive."  
  
"None of us knew Duo," Heero told him. "How were we supposed to?" That's when Trowa decided to join in on the conversation.  
  
"Because Lily told us."  
  
"What?" Heero and everyone else turned to look at Trowa. "What do you mean she told us?"  
  
"Remember sometime in the beginning when Lily had first arrived? I think it was on her second day that she told us 'It's not over yet. He's still alive.' No one knew what she meant at the time so we just threw it aside but now I do."  
  
Yuriko looked at Trowa and smiled. He was pretty smart. They all were at certain times and those times she just had to praise them. That was pretty much the only time that she appreciated them though. Other times she just wanted to strangle them. She hated this working together thing. She was a loner, but she had to push that aside and work with these boys.  
  
"I think you're right Trowa," agreed Heero. "Lily did tell us but I wish she would have explained what she meant at the time then we wouldn't be in this mess."  
  
"Well did you piss her off or anything when she told you?" Yuriko finally asked. She watched as each g-boy started to think about that day and got a few nervous nods. "Well there's you answer. Never get Lily pissed or she'll leave you confused."  
  
"How are we not supposed to get her pissed?" came Duo's loud obnoxious voice. "She's always pissed no matter what. You can say the nicest things and she'll still get pissed."  
  
Yuriko stood up, took a deep breath and said, "Then don't say nice things." Each g-boy looked at her confused. "Lily isn't the type that likes to be nice. Say something nice to her that's an insult. Say something mean and that's a compliment. I know it sounds weird but that's how she is. It comes from being alone most of her life. She doesn't like to get close to people and so she pushes herself away from everyone. One way that she knows their distant is their insults." The g-boys looked at each other and shrugged. In a way it did make sense, but it was also very confusing.  
  
"It's late," explained Une. "Everyone should get home and get some sleep. You've school tomorrow then work."  
  
"Yuriko goes to school?" asked Duo.  
  
"No I don't. I come straight here and do whatever mission I'm assigned."  
  
"Oh." Everyone got up and finally left, Noin, Une and Sally plus Mariemaia being the only ones left.  
  
* * *  
  
"Ohayo Lily," greeted Duo. Lily came in, took her seat and ignored him. "Fine! Be that way."  
  
Lily smiled and said, "okay."  
  
"You feeling better Lily?" asked Heero.  
  
"Hai. Thank you for asking though. Did you guys get Mariemaia back?" Now Lily turned around and looked at the boys. For once the girl looked happy, and peaceful. Was Yuriko really telling the truth?  
  
"Yeah. She's with Sally and them," explained Wufei. He was a little surprised to see Lily so calm and smiling for once.  
  
"Good."  
  
"Lily, I was wondering," started Quatre. "How exactly do you and Yuri..."  
  
"Class we have a new student," announced the teacher. "Everyone please welcome Nikki Meiou." A young girl with purple hair to her knees and green eyes walked in. She wore a long purple skirt and a black shirt. "Take a seat next to Lily," ordered the teacher. Nikki smiled and nodded. Then she took her seat to the right of Lily.  
  
"Konanachiwa Lily-chan."  
  
"Hm...Ohayo Nikki. How have you been?" came Lily's response. The g-boys all stared wide-eyed. She was friendly to someone and she even let her call her Lily-chan.  
  
"Fine. So this is where you've been the past three weeks. Why didn't you ever answer any of my e-mails or ever call?"  
  
"Nikki-chan, do you think I had the time?" To tell the truth Lily really didn't want to answer her e-mails or even call. She didn't really like Nikki, but no matter what Nikki always found ways to annoy her.  
  
"Are you two friends?" interrupted Duo.  
  
"Friends?" Lily raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Look Braid Boy, I thought I told you before that I have no friends. They would just get in the way."  
  
"Family then?" asked Heero.  
  
"Oh God no. Thank goodness we're not related. Like I'd ever want to be related to this happy go lucky weirdo. I don't really even want to be found around her, yet, always she finds a way to annoy me."  
  
Nikki just smiled and said, "Oh come on Lily-chan, you know you love me." She laughed when Lily glared at her and growled. "Now now, don't be like that. It's not nice, but then again, you're not a nice person. I forgot."  
  
"What about Yuriko?" asked Wufei, trying to interrupt their conversation and to keep Lily from killing Nikki. "If you don't have any friends then she must be family or something."  
  
"No, we're not related," Lily explained. "Yuriko is just a very good partner. We do most of our missions together, even though it may not seem like it."  
  
"Speaking of which Lily-chan, how is Yuri-chan?" Lily glared at Nikki for a second then sighed. She wished that Nikki wouldn't use the chan, but she does it to everyone. Even after Lily had threatened her, she still continued.  
  
"She's fine I guess. Nikki, why exactly are you here?"  
  
"To learn, see?" She motioned to the fact that she was in school.  
  
"Oh right." But Lily still didn't believe her. She felt something was going to happen and she didn't know what yet. She would find out though no matter what. Nikki wouldn't come all this way for no reason at all, especially to the same school as Lily. Even though Nikki didn't act like it she also didn't like Lily. The two shared a hate for each other, one that probably would never be solved.  
  
* * *  
  
"Boys, meet your new partner," Noin told them. The five boys and Yuriko, who as usual was in her corner, looked up. In walked Nikki.  
  
"Nikki?" Yuriko jumped up from her seat. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Didn't you hear her?" asked Nikki. "She said that I was the new pilot." Yuriko suddenly felt dizzy.  
  
"I think I need to sit down." Duo ran over to help her and sat her down in a chair. "Nikki, did Queen Relena send you?"  
  
"Huh? Oh yeah and this letter was for you." Nikki handed the letter to Yuriko. "Don't ask me what it says because I wouldn't know. I don't go spying into other people's business."  
  
"Ok." Yuriko opened the letter and silently read it to herself. When she was done she tried not to tear the letter and cry. "She really doesn't trust me that much?" Nikki, knowing Yuriko for years now, knew she was ready to cry. She had cried once and only once but there will still times when she was very close to it. She was hurt and knew that never would Queen Relena be able to trust her, even though she's been working for her for a few years now, and never once had she failed a mission. Even with all that, Queen Relena still wouldn't trust her.  
  
Yuriko got up, dropped the letter and ran out of the room. Wufei picked up the letter and silently read it.  
  
"Injustice. If you want someone to work for you then you have to trust them."  
  
"Wufei, what does the letter say," asked Heero.  
  
"Yuriko, sending you on this mission might have been a mistake. I don't know. All I know is that I can't trust you. I'm afraid that you might kill those wonderful boys in the process and get out of hand. I don't think they can control you long. I have sent Nikki in your place this way it's someone I can trust. You are free to go. You no longer work for me. Queen Relena." Wufei crumbled up the letter and looked at everyone else. "It's not right to send someone on a mission and in the middle of it say that they don't trust you."  
  
"Well, we won't let Yuriko go," stated Sally. "She's part of us now and we trust her." The g-boys all nodded. Yuriko may not be all that friendly but they sure have learned to like her. They were used to her being around now, and it just wouldn't be the same without her. Besides, they needed her help with the war ahead.  
  
"No offense everyone," interrupted Nikki, "but you don't know Yuriko as well as I do. She's very dangerous and eventually she'll stray from you. She's not a trusting type and she most definitely doesn't hesitate to kill. She'll be after all of you soon especially since you're all guys. Really I'm surprised that you could handle her this long."  
  
"Nikki, but I do know Yuriko," said Une. "I raised her."  
  
"Lady Une. I'm sorry. I didn't know that you were here."  
  
"Don't ever talk about Yuriko like that. You don't know her Nikki. What you know is her shell. These boys know her better than you do. She's never opened up around you before. With these boys it's different. I've seen her actually open up to them a few times. Get that, a few and for you not once. So you can't tell these boys that they don't know her because they sure as hell know her better than you ever could." Nikki didn't have anything to say about that. All she knew was she'd have to learn to get along with Yuriko otherwise she wouldn't be able to get along with anyone else. Why they would actually stick up for her, she didn't know. It made no sense to her. Never has anyone stuck up for Yuriko.  
  
"Fine, do what you want," said Nikki. "She can stay for all I care. She just better not get in the way of my job." That said, Nikki stormed out of the room. She hated Yuriko and was hoping that she could actually get rid of her for once, but these boys actually wanted her around. Relena wouldn't be too happy about this.  
  
"Duo can you please check on Yuriko?" asked Une.  
  
"Sure." Duo ran out of the room.  
  
* * *  
  
"Yuriko? Hey Yuriko!! Ya up there?" Duo searched for his friend in the tree but couldn't find her. "Yuriko?"  
  
"Go away!!" he heard her shout. He looked further up the tree and saw why he couldn't find her. She had climbed up further than usual and did her best to hide from him. He started to climb the tree.  
  
"Yuriko, don't let those two get to you. You don't need them anyway."  
  
"You don't understand. All my life people have put me down, saying that I was dangerous and that I couldn't be trusted. I grew up doing missions and never failing them. I finally gained the trust of someone and I don't want to lose it. Normally it wouldn't bother me, but... I don't know. Being you guys actually makes me want to open up to people."  
  
"You won't lose our trust and just because you were kicked off the mission doesn't mean that you were kicked off the team. Trust me Yuriko, you haven't failed yet. And you should open up to people. Yuriko, we want to help you, but you have to open up to us first. You have to tell us what exactly it is that is bothering you and why you are always alone."  
  
"Duo?" Yuriko could feel warmth surround her. It was weird, but ever since she had met these boys, she didn't want to be alone anymore and she had actually felt wanted. It was like as if they actually cared for her, but why? No one cared about her.  
  
"We want you to stay Yuriko. We've actually grown fond of having you around. We don't want you to leave us. You're a part of the team."  
  
Yuriko nodded and said, "Thank you Duo." She couldn't believe it but she was actually accepted into their team. She was wanted around. She felt a tear run down her cheek and she smiled brightly for the first time since she had first turned five.  
  
"Can we go back in now or do you have somewhere to go?" Yuriko chuckled and looked at him.  
  
"Sorry but yeah, I have to go now." Always. She could never stay around them. She always had other things to take care of, but one of these days she would. She would stay and talk with them because.... because she really did care for them. Very much.  
  
"Understandable. You're a busy woman. Just promise me that from now on if something is bothering you that you'll come and talk to one of us."  
  
"It's a promise."  
  
"Good. Now go on and do whatever it is that you need to do." Duo offered to help her down but she refused so he climbed down himself.  
  
Yuriko stood up and walked to the end of the branch that she was standing on. Duo looked up and nearly had a heart attack. He watched as she bounced on the branch.  
  
"Yuriko, what the hell do you think you're doing? Get down here now, the careful way. That branch will break if you keep doing that."  
  
"Oh come on Duo, you said that you trust me right?"  
  
"I do trust you. I just don't think that you should be trying to fly at a time like this." The panic in his voice was evident. He was worried, very worried. Yuriko liked that. No one had ever been worried about her before.  
  
"Don't worry. I'll be perfectly fine and I'll prove it to you now." She jumped off the branch and Duo held his breath. She performed a series of flips, on the last one preparing herself to land. Gracefully landing on her feet, she looked at Duo. He waited a few more seconds before he let his breath out.  
  
"You crazy maniac. You could have killed yourself doing that."  
  
"But I didn't, now did I?" It was obvious that she was smiling by the tone in her voice. It was just too cheerful. "Anyway, I better go now." She picked up a bag next to the tree. "Ja Duo!" Then she ran off.  
  
Duo smiled. "She really is dangerous, but I think I like that about her."  
  
"I think that's what we all like about her." Heero and the rest of the group walked up behind him.  
  
"What? You guys don't like the controlling side?" asked Noin.  
  
"Or the deadly side?" asked Sally.  
  
"Only the daring," put in Une. "That's all guys like about girls."  
  
"Can't blame us," said Duo. "We like the action. Some women are just so boring. They don't do anything but sit at home."  
  
"Is that how you think of us?" asked Sally. The three women planted their hands on their waists and glared at the five boys. The helpless, defenseless five backed up away from the three women.  
  
"No way," said Duo. "We love ya three. No way we could think that way of ya." The three still glared at them. "Look, would we still be here working together? I don't think so. What do you say guys?" His four companions desperately nodded their heads, not able to get a yes out.  
  
"Really?" asked Noin. "Thank you but..." All three women pulled squirt guns out from behind them and started chasing after the five guys. Screams and shouts could be heard as the five guys each grabbed hoses and went after the three women.  
  
Far in the distance Yuriko stood behind a tree and watched them. She wished that she could be part of the fun, but knew she couldn't. She wasn't yet completely part of the group and wasn't sure she ever would be. That included opening up completely. Besides, she had a mission to finish and a promise to keep. No offense to them, but that was the only reason she stayed around. Forget about opening up to them. She didn't want to get close to them, otherwise when it's time to leave she won't want to. She was afraid though. Afraid that she was already that fond of them.  
  
She shook her head. It may be too late but she had no choice. She made a promise, for both her and Lily. Mostly for Lily though. She cared deeply for these boys, but she wouldn't be able to stick around much longer. It was too dangerous for her to stay around them and for her to get too close to them, but she didn't know anymore. She sighed deeply and leaned back against the tree. Why did she care so much about them anyway? What made them different from him? They could easily do the same thing, then why? A few tears ran down her cheeks and soon she was crying. "WHY?!" She pushed away from the tree and ran away as fast as she could. Away from all the things that she cared most about. Away from all the pain. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Lily sat in her nice cozy apartment where nothing could bother her now. In her small kitchen was boiling macaroni and chicken in the oven. She sipped at her cup of Mountain Dew and turned on the TV. Flipping through channels she came across one of her favorite anime's, Generator Gawl. It didn't come on often so she decided to watch it.  
  
When it finally went on commercial she decided to go check on her food. The macaroni was done boiling, so she put in some cheese, milk and butter and stirred. Then she let it sit for a while so that the chicken could finish.  
  
She went back to go watch Generator Gawl when her doorbell rang. Grumbling, she went to go answer it. Who in their right mind would be visiting her?  
  
"It better not be Sally or Noin. Une is okay, but those other two can get very annoying." She opened the door and there stood Timmy and Daichi.  
  
"Oniichan! Daichi-kun! What are you two doing here?" She moved out of the way so that they could come in. "Shouldn't you be with OZ right now?" She couldn't believe it. There were the last two people that she thought that she would end up seeing.  
  
"Actually, if you've heard what happened then you should know we can't go back," explained Timmy. Both boys walked in.  
  
"Oh that's right. You two destroyed the base and left with Yuriko! What happened when you got to the gundam base? Everyone said that you two disappeared." She closed the door and motioned for them to sit down, only to have them refuse. She just shrugged.  
  
"We did," said Daichi. "As soon as we got there me and Timmy were out. We didn't think that we could stay. Besides, everyone looked worried enough as it was. They didn't need us to worry about too."  
  
"I guess that's true. Um...I'm cooking diner now. It's almost done if you two would like some."  
  
"No, that's okay Imouto. Don't want to be a burden. We should probably go now."  
  
"Onegai Oniichan? It gets pretty lonely having dinner by yourself everyday." This was true. Lily may have been used to living and eating alone, but it sure was nice to have some guests sometimes. Besides, it's been awhile since she's seen her brother. About two years now. She wanted to be able to catch up on everything.  
  
"Oh come on Timmy," said Daichi. "You don't want to leave your Imouto alone by herself for diner now do you?" Lily always did like Daichi. He always stuck up for her, and always helped her to get her way. He was almost like another brother for her.  
  
Timmy sighed and looked at both pairs of pleading eyes. "Oh alright. But only because you asked." Lily smiled and went to go check on the chicken. Once again she had won against her brother, all thanks to Daichi.  
  
* * *  
  
"Alright ya two. Here ya go." Lily set down plates of macaroni and chicken for the two and sat down in her own seat. "I know that it's not all that much, but hey, it's food."  
  
Timmy looked at his sister and smiled. "Lazy today Lily?"  
  
"Oh shut up Oniichan." It was true though. Normally she would cook something nice, but after awhile it gets really boring. Especially when you're the only one eating it.  
  
"You know Timmy, we have to come by sometime and have your Imouto make us a delicious meal. Like maybe some Dumplings, Curry, Okonomiyaki or her yummy Misao soup."  
  
"Why, when you two can just get it somewhere else?" She knew it was just an excuse for good food and she didn't plan on falling for it this time.  
  
"Well, I agree with Daichi," put in Timmy. "Besides, anywhere else isn't as good as your food."  
  
"I thought it was the job of the older sibling to spoil the younger. Not the younger to spoil the older. What's with this?" Timmy laughed.  
  
"I just like your cooking."  
  
"What? Are you saying that you used me? Oniichan, I'm hurt." Lily faked a sob and turned around. After a few seconds she turned back around and smiled. It was times like this, when she was with her brother and Daichi, that she could actually act herself and open up to people.  
  
"Very funny Lily. Haha!" Timmy said sarcastically.  
  
"Really? I thought so too." Lily shrugged and the three started laughing. "Thank you. I know I'm good." She got up and bowed, deserving more laughs from the two boys."Anyway Oniichan." Lily sat down and the two boys now stared at a serious Lily. "Where are you staying now that you no longer work for OZ? You can't go back home just yet."  
  
"Well, me and Daichi are fine. We're staying at a hotel right now till we find a place to stay."  
  
"What? You've got to be kidding me. Hotels are expensive. You'll stay here till you find a place." It was true. They were expensive. There was no way that she would let her brother and Daichi do such an idiotic thing. Besides, it was a great excuse to be near her brother again.  
  
"On no Lily, we couldn't," Timmy argued. "Like I said before, we don't want to be a burden." A burden? Timmy sure didn't know Lily all that well. Actually he did, but he still didn't want to put her through all the trouble of helping them out.It may have been expensive for a hotel, but they had more than enough money and even Lily knew this. That's why she was able to afford an apartment.  
  
"Oniichan, trust me, you won't be a burden. I'm sure Daichi-kun will stay, ne Daichi-kun?" Daichi smiled and nodded, once again sticking up for Lily. "See? And Oniichan, I'm sure that you don't want to leave me alone here with Daichi-kun, but then again it might be fun," she said in a very seductive way.  
  
Darn her, thought Timmy. He knew that the two would never do anything but he still had to be an older brother. He glared at the two and said, "Fine, I'll stay." Lily smiled, knowing that she had won. Never could she lose against her brother.  
  
"Good. You, Oniichan, will be staying in that room over there." She pointed to a room to the left of the hall. "And Daichi will stay in the on to the right."  
  
"Guess that leaves the one at the end of the hall as yours," Daichi commented. Lily smiled and nodded.  
  
"Now it's really late," pointed out Lily, "so I'm heading to bed. 'Night ya two." She gave them each a hug and skipped merrily off to bed. The two boys smiled and went to bed too.  
  
* * *  
  
"Okay class, please pass up your work and you may be dismissed." Everyone passed up their papers and got up to leave. Lily and the g-boys all headed out together like they've been doing for almost a month now. Nikki, who's only been there for a week, quietly followed the six.  
  
When they stepped off school ground, then Nikki dared speak to them. "Ok, what's with you Lily? You used to be so nice to me. And why bother to stick up for Yuriko? It's not like she matters to you at all." Nikki smirked. "No one does."  
  
Lily immediately stopped and turned to face Nikki. "What? No chan this time? What's it to you anyway? You never considered me a friend. Why should it matter if I'm nice to you or not? And of course I'm going to stick up for Yuriko. We may not be friends but we have been working together for two years now. If you don't mind I'm going now." Lily spun around and got ready to walk again. The g-boys just stood off to the side, knowing that this wasn't over just yet. If Nikki was involved then it just wasn't that simple.  
  
"Where do you think you're going Lily?" Lily stopped and once again looked at Nikki. "Next time you see Yuriko tell her I said hi." Lily glared at her. What was going on here? Nikki never cared enough for a delivered hi. "Oh and I heard that Koji was the new OZ leader."  
  
"You just figured this out?" asked Lily. "Dear, you're too far behind. He's been the new leader of OZ for a few months now. The only reason I accepted this mission was because of him." That's right. It was all for revenge. All she wanted was to get back at Koji.  
  
"Why? Plan on returning to him? Too bad he married that girl Amelia instead. I can probably guess why he dumped you. What'd you do? Sleep around?"  
  
"Uh you...you bitch." Lily felt her anger flare inside of her. How dare Nikki say such a thing. She was probably worse anyway. Who the hell did she think she was?  
  
"Why thank you. I'm sure that you're not worried about Koji though, are you? Nope, not when you've got those five." Lily's anger grew even more and she wasn't sure as to how much longer she could put up with annoyinng bitch. Not only had she insulted her, but she had insulted some of the very few people who actually talk to her.  
  
"Leave Lily alone," Duo spoke up. "She never did anything to you."  
  
"No, that's okay Duo," came Lily's harsh, angry and almost controlled voice. "You know, I'm sick of being nice to you Nikki. It was always me and Yuriko that you were against and anyone else that was our friend. Anyone other than that you were completely nice to. Always so happy go lucky and weird. What you have against us I don't know but I'm no longer going to be nice to you. Trust me when I say that from now on the two of us are forever enemies." Lily looked to see if she would get a response but there was nothing. Not a single word. "Now if you don't mind, we'll be leaving now. Goodbye Nikki." Lily motioned for the five guys to come and the group of six left.  
  
Who cared if the bitch was angry? Lily didn't care anymore. She had tried so hard to be nice to her and to be friendly, but never did Nikki return that kindness and so Lily gave up. She was going to take anymore of her time just for a bitch like Nikki.  
  
Nikki fell on her knees and sighed. Why did she hate her? She never did find the answer to that question. They had been sworn enemies since the beginning but now it was different. Now the real fight between them had finally started. Who would win at the end? They had never won anything against each other. Anytime they fought, sparred or anything it always turned out a tie. What about this time though? Could Nikki win? She wasn't sure about this fight. But she did know that she would fight as best she could. Lily wasn't going to give up that easily and neither was she. Nikki took in a deep breath, stood up and stormed off to the g-base.  
  
* * *  
  
"Oh I so hate that girl," a very frustrated Lily shouted. "She makes me so angry." She couldn't control her anger anymore and just had to take it out on something or someone. She needed a way to burn off her anger.  
  
"Lily, calm down, okay?" said Duo. "Don't let her get to you." Lily sighed and nodded. He was right. She couldn't let Nikki get to her. That would just mean that she was weak and on the losing side. She couldn't let that happen.  
  
"It's just that I thought maybe someday the two of us could become friends. When my training at the new base started, she was the first of the female pilots that I had met, after Yuriko. She had seemed so nice. I wanted to talk to her and maybe become friends but when she first saw me she looked disgusted and hateful. From then I stayed as far away from her as I could. I should have known that I would be alone."  
  
The five boys looked at Lily. They felt bad that they couldn't help. Duo grabbed Lily's arm and turned her so that she faced him. His hand took her face and caressed it. He chuckled, making her wonder just what he was thinking. This was wierd and it had been awhile since she had been this close to a guy and this comfortable. Two whole years. She couldn't believe it.  
  
"Lily, you're not alone. You have us." He took his hand away from her and motioned to the other g-boys. "Whether you'd like to admit it or not, we are your friends." Lily stood there, shocked. Tears forced their way up and she choked out a sob. Her eyesight got blurry and she let the tears spill. She stumbled forward and buried her face into Duo's shirt. Never, in her entire life had anyone claimed to be her friend. She had always been alone, shunned by the entire world around her. Living through years and years of loneliness she gained her independence and stubbornness. Never had she let herself close to anyone for fear of getting hurt, but these five were different. She felt that she could trust them.  
  
She couldn't understand why they had wanted to be friends with her. She had never done anything for or to them. Instead she would always push them away, insult them or just completely avoid them, but here they were, claiming to be her friends. For once in a whole two years she felt cared for and wanted. She had friends and was no longer alone. She hated being alone. That's who she was but she hated, more than anything else in life.  
  
Duo smiled down at his friend and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. Never had he seen someone in so much pain, with so many secrets. Her past had been very difficult. Something had happened to cause her to lock herself up so much. When he had first met this girl she seemed to have no emotions and not a single care in the world. Slowly that shell moved away and they would find out more about her. Eventually he would break that shell of hers. It was a promise. He wanted to help her and that's what he would do.  
  
The four g-boys watched their two friends, each of them a smile creeping onto their faces. They really did like Lily and seriously wanted to help her. They believed that if anyone could help her that it was most definitely Duo. Too bad Yuriko wasn't that open though.  
  
Lily sniffed and slowly pushed away from Duo. She wiped her tears and smiled. "Thank you. All of you."  
  
"All right everyone," interrupted Heero, who had enough of this being nice stuff. "Let's go eat now, okay?" Everyone laughed, including the teary eyed Lily.  
  
"Well, I am kind of hungry," admitted Lily. "Fine then, let's go."  
  
* * *  
  
Koji arrived at the new OZ base. Looking around, he nodded at all the soldiers running by. He wasn't in a very good mood and noticed that most soldiers were avoiding him while the rest just didn't even notice he was there.  
  
Grumbling, he let a soldier show him to his office. There he would think about what to do. A week and he still couldn't get the incident out of his head. That girl Yuriko, who was she? And what was she doing there? Why wasn't Lily on that mission to get Mariemaia back? He sat in his new chair and dismissed the soldier out of the room.  
  
She was good though. Better than he had thought that she would be and where the hell would she get a gundam like that? Lily must have built it for her. She was after all very good with techonology. She did after all have straight A's all her years of school so far. But he didn't like Yuriko. He had to get rid of her and to get Lily back. Lily was his whether she wanted to admit it or not.  
  
Yuriko. The name haunted him. Not once had it left his mind yet. He would get her back for everything she had done. No one ever got away from him. No one. He would get Yuriko and Lily. Both of them. They had to pay. Pay dearly for what they had done to him. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
"Thanks guys, for taking me out to lunch." Lily stepped out of the building and looked around. The five g-boys stood behind her. They were so nice. Lily liked this, being able to hang out with people, being claimed as a friend, but most of all even having friends.  
  
"No prob," said the ever so cheerful Duo. "What else could we do to get your mind off that annoying girl?"  
  
Lily grinned. "Aw...aren't you just so sweet?" Duo raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?" Truely she wanted to know, but she also wanted to tease Duo.  
  
Duo shrugged. "I don't know. You're my friend, why not?"  
  
Lily's grin grew and it had an evil tint to it. "I think Braid Boy has a crush on me. What do you think boys?" She looked at the other g-boys who were grinning and nodding. Lily doubted that it was true. A guy like her? Ha! Anyway, it was just fun though. She had forgotten the meaning of fun, but being with these boys was bringing it all back. She could finally remember once again.  
  
"What? You guys are nuts!" He poked Lily on the forehead. "You, my dear, have got a screw loose. Weirdo."  
  
"Why thank you," a very cheerful Lily said. The five g-boys quit playing around and just stared at Lily. Never had they seen her so cheerful before. It just was too much for them. To have her laughing and talking with them was a surprise all in itself, but for her to be smiling so brightly? It was a Lily they had never known and they all knew that this was the real Lily.  
  
Lily stopped her chatter and looked at the five boys. "What? Is something wrong?" Quickly the five boys snapped back to reality. They each smiled and shook their heads. It may have been different, but they loved this Lily. Never would they do anything to lose her the way she was right at this very moment.  
  
Lily grew more and more fond of these boys everyday, and she found it much harder to lock herself away from them. She couldn't keep up her shell and so here she was, laughing with them and having fun. She loved it though and she loved these boys. To her they were like family. They were few of the only people that she could ever trust.  
  
"We're going to the base now. Do you want to come?" asked Quatre.  
  
"Sure." Lily smiled and they each walked off.  
  
* * *  
  
"We're here!" shouted Duo. Sally poked her head around the doorframe of her office and smiled.  
  
"Good. I think Noin and Une wanted all of you in the main room. Nikki's already there." Sally's smile faded. "It doesn't seem good news. Looks like you boys have got yourself a new mission." So what else was new? They always had new missions. It didn't surprise them in the least.  
  
The boys nodded and Lily followed them into the main room. There they found Nikki arguing with Noin and Une about their new mission. Nothing new there either. Ever since that girl had come everything had been a mess. Yuriko was hardly around anymore, and Sally, Une and Noin were always angry about something.  
  
Lily, tired of all the trouble that Nikki was always making, burst into the room and pushed Nikki back just a little. "Stop it. I come here to explain the new mission only to find that you're already arguing about it before I even start? No. I don't think so. Nikki, sit down. Une and Noin, I'll take care of this." Une and Noin nodded and sat down on the couch. Lily was pissed and they sure as heck didn't want to mess with her.  
  
"You mean you were coming anyway?" asked Duo. He couldn't believe it.  
  
"Yes Braid Boy. Now sit down like everyone else." Lily sounded way too serious to be messed with so he sat down. When she was angry you didn't want to mess with her. "As you all know, a new mission has been put at hand. I already talked to Yuriko about this and she completely agrees."  
  
"What exactly is the mission?" demanded Nikki. Lily glared at her and Nikki growled. You could practically she the daggers that they pointed at each other. Talk about enemies. They were worse than that.  
  
"Girls, please calm down," ordered Une. Lily sighed and nodded. Nikki just murmured something and crossed her arms. "The mission is more important then your little quarrel." Lily looked at Une, but decided against saying anything to that. Une was after all her guardian. She raised her for eleven whole years now.  
  
"I'm here to tell you the location of the new OZ base. It's not very easy to get to and even if you did, it's near impossible to get in." She looked at everyone around the room. They all seemed relaxed, except Nikki, but that was to be expected.  
  
"Then what are we going to do?" asked Trowa.  
  
"Well, that's where my oniichan and his friend come in." Of course, Timmy and Daichi. If anything, there was always a way that they could help out. And they were the first part of the plan.  
  
"You have a brother?" interrupted Heero.  
  
"Actually yes, I do. They're the two boys Yuriko helped that day. Anyway, they will be taking you to the base, including your gundams. Thing is they only have two mobile suit carriers and each one is only able to carry two gundams. Since there are seven of you, four will go with the two and the other three will take a different way."  
  
"What does each group do?" asked Wufei.  
  
"Well, group one is the four. That consists of Happy-go-Lucky-Weirdo, Braid Boy, Circus Boy and Perfect Soldier. They are to go inside and find the main computer. Perfect Soldier will take a disk of mine and spread a virus in the main computer. It's important that it be the main one because it's somehow connected to all the other OZ base computers. Braid Boy and Happy- go-Lucky-Weirdo will find the mobile suit rooms and destroy all existing mobile suits there. Circus Boy will hack into the backup computer and find out if we need to know anything else, then he'll put a virus in that system. Any questions about the first group?"  
  
"What will your brother and his friend do when we get there?" asked Duo. That actually was a very good question. Lily couldn't believe that he would actually ask something so important, knowing Duo that is.  
  
"Timmy and Daichi will go find Koji. Since Koji probably doesn't know yet that they've betrayed him they'll continue to pretend to fight by his side. If he'd of known he would have sent a search for them and killed them as soon as he had captured them." It payed off to know so much about the enemy. That was one good thing about the enemy being someone she knew. The best part though was that it was someone she hated more than anything and so she had no problem with killing him.  
  
"Okay then," started Heero, "what about group two?"  
  
"Well, the only ones left are Yuriko, Sexist Pig and Blondie. Yuriko has that one planned and will explain it to you on the way. Anymore questions?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good. Now I think that Sally has you all set up for some training today, ne, Sally?" Sally walked into the room and smiled.  
  
"Sure do. Everyone ready?"  
  
"One more question," interrupted Nikki. "When does this take place?"  
  
"When we say you're ready," explained Lily. Nikki growled and got up.  
  
"Since when did you become the boss of me?"  
  
"Since we hired her," stated Noin. "And Queen Relena said that whatever mission comes up Lily is in charge."  
  
"What?! That's not fair!" Nikki shouted, very frustrated now. Why the hell did Lily always have to be in charge of mission plans? She could come up with one if they would ask her to, but they never did. It was always Lily. So what if she was extra smart. At the same time she was also extra annoying.  
  
Lily just grinned. "Your fault for always playing around Nikki." It was true. Nikki never took anything seriously, but do you think that she would actually ever admit to that? So she screwed up the only mission plan that she had made up and she had screwed up on one or two of their missions, but that didn't mean anything.  
  
"You stupid...I don't even know why I...I would've done...I'm so much...I don't...Ugh! Never mind. Let's just get this damn training over with." Nikki turned heel and stormed off to the training room. Lily just burst out laughing. It was always so much fun to get Nikki frustrated like that.  
  
"I love annoying that girl." Lily finally stopped her laughter and straightened up. "Anyway, there's training to be done now." The g-boys each nodded and everyone headed to the training room.  
  
They walked in and Nikki just glared at them. "About time. What took you guys so long? It's only a room over."  
  
"We know where it is Nikki, obviously since we're here now. We were talking. Do you have a problem with that?" Nikki just continued to glare at them and walked to the middle of the room. "Ok boys, good luck. Nikki's pretty good." Nikki smirked and got into her ready position. Pretty good? That was an understatement.  
  
"Come on boys, if you're chicken though...well then..." Each boy growled and formed a circle around her. They didn't like being called chicken, especially by someone that they didn't like. Lily just sat down and watched as the fight began. She felt sorry for the boys, but it was the same with Yuriko. They just had to learn to stand up to them. It was five against one and she found that really ridiculous. This was really for their own good.  
  
Heero, looking for a chance and taking it, lunged toward Nikki and she just moved to the right then back to the left dodging Trowa's punch. Quatre just stood there, once again not knowing how to help. He may have been good with guns and his gundam but actual hand-to-hand combat was not his thing. Finally he saw an opening and tried to punch Nikki, but instead found himself flying forward as she grabbed his arm and flipped him.  
  
Nikki gracefully swung around and locked her fist with Wufei's jaw. He fell back mumbling something about women not fighting. Trowa thought he would use that moment and attempted to punch her but Nikki just caught his hand and twisted it. From behind, she kicked Heero who had jumped at her. Duo tried to knock her off her feet but Nikki just jumped up, spun, kicked him in the face and landed gracefully on her feet. Nikki just looked at the five boys and shook her head.  
  
"And I'm supposed to work with them?" Nikki looked at Lily and Lily got up from her seat. She knew that it was pathetic and that they needed more practice but she was the only one who could insult them like that. She hated Nikki and these boys were her friends. Nikki was just lucky to be working with them.  
  
"At least they know what teamwork is." Lily glared at Nikki and walked over to the boys. "And you know what I'm talking about Nikki." Nikki hated that. She hated it when Lily would bring up the past. So she screwed up. Everyone makes mistakes, and the way she saw things was it really wasn't her fault, or at least that's what she kept trying to tell herself.  
  
"Haven't the slightest clue of what you're talking about." She tossed her hair back and grabbed a bottle of water, gulping it down.  
  
"Only because you don't want to remember. He would still be here today if it weren't for your stupidness and stubborness. Grow up Nikki. Move on with life." Now Nikki was mad. He wouldn't be here. It was all Lily's fault. All because she was so clumsy. None of that would have happened if Lily hadn't of been there, if she hadn't of been so close to the guy. If he hadn't of cared so much for her, none of it would have happened.  
  
"Easy for you to say. It's not my fault that you can just move onto another guy. After Erik it was just so easy for you to move onto Koji, wasn't it?"  
  
Lily felt tears begin to sting her eyes and slapped Nikki. "You stupid Bitch. You'll never understand." It's not like she knew. She cared about Erik and she did love Koji at one time, but that was all in the past. It wasn't how Nikki saw it. It was all completely different. Nikki didn't know, wouldn't listen to the whole story.  
  
Nikki held her cheek. "What's wrong? You gonna cry now? Huh? 'Cuz you sure didn't the day of Erik's funeral. It was like as if you just pretended to care about him the whole time."  
  
Lily regained her control and said, "I don't cry in front of people. I won't allow myself to. And Erik only died because you were to stupid to know what you were doing."  
  
"Shut up! You don't know anything! All you know is how to be the cold hearted non caring person you are, just like your stupid partner Yuriko. You don't care about anyone. You never will!"  
  
Lily growled. "Not my fault that that's the only thing that we were taught. You know what? Take care of the damn mission yourself. It'll be up to Yuriko if she works with you or not. Mind you though it won't work without her. Ja!" Lily stormed out of the room before anyone could say anything. She just wanted to get out of there, away from the memories. She just wanted to leave all the pain behind. Why did it always have to come up when Nikki was around? She would never escape the memories. They haunted her.  
  
"Lily! Damn!" Duo looked at Nikki. "Now look at what you've done you stupid Bitch. Come on guys, let's go." All five boys, Sally, Noin and Une all left Nikki by herself in the room. They didn't want to be around her any longer. All she ever did was cause trouble and chase both Lily and Yuriko away. Why Relena sent her, they didn't know, but they were better off with Yuriko and Lily.  
  
"What have I done now? I've really screwed up." Nikki fell on her knees and started to cry. She didn't understand any of what was going on and it's not like she really hated Lily, it was just their past. All she wanted was to forget, but she couldn't. Not with Lily around. Not with him still in her mind.  
  
Duo stood just outside the room and shook his head. "The poor girl. What happened between the two of them to make each other hate the other so much? Maybe I should call Lily later and see if she's okay." He walked away from the room and left the base to go home to his apartment.  
  
* * *  
  
Duo threw open the door to his apartment and headed for the phone. He dialed Lily's number and waited for her to pick up. He heard someone pick up the phone and waited for an answer.  
  
"Hello?" What's going on? Duo was confused. That was a guy that had just picked up the phone. But why? Lily didn't have guys living with her, did she? But he thought that she had lived alone.  
  
"Ano... is Lily home?" he asked nervously, hoping that it wasn't the wrong number.  
  
"No. This is her brother." Duo let out a long sigh. So that's where her brother had gone to stay after they all returned that day. It made sense now. "Would you like me to leave a message for her?"  
  
"No, that's okay. I'll just call later. Thanks though." Duo hung up the phone and looked around his apartment. "Great! Now what?" He had really wanted to talk to Lily.  
  
* * *  
  
Lily sat outside on a bench and watched the little kids run around on the playground. Her eyes were red and puffy, and tears were stained on her cheeks. She thought back to the day her and Nikki first met.  
  
"I don't cry, huh? I hate this! Why does she hate me so much anyway? What happened that first day anyway? I don't understand any of it. None of this makes sense."  
  
~ "Lily, we've a new pilot I'd like you to meet later," said Relena. That wasn't anything new and it was actually much better this way. Now Lily wouldn't be working alone with just Erik.  
  
"Hai, Queen Relena. I'll go see her later, ok?" Lily looked at Relena and Relena smiled and left. At this time Lily and Relena did get along. They were friends, kind of. But Lily was nice then and just a little more open.  
  
"Lily, hey!" Lily looked up and Erik ran her way. "Did you hear? The new pilot is here."  
  
Lily smiled and said, "Yes Erik, I heard. I'll go meet her later. What are you up to?" She loved seeing Erik. He was her best friend and she trusted him more than anything.  
  
"Oh, not much. Just finished Yuriko's gundam." He wrapped his arms around her waist. "You doing anything tonight?"  
  
"No, why?" Lily stepped in closer to Erik and set her arms around his neck. "Plan on taking me anywhere?" They were so close, but everyone knew that they were only friends.  
  
"Maybe." Lily just smiled and settled into his warm embrace. She loved being with Erik.  
  
"Hmph. I thought you were a soldier," they heard someone say. Lily let go of Erik and turned to face the person. It was someone new and she had never met the person before. It must have been the new pilot.  
  
"I am a soldier. Who are you?" demanded Lily. She hated rude people, but did her best to get along with them and at least be nice.  
  
"Nicole Meiou, the new pilot. You must be Lily."  
  
"I am."  
  
Nikki looked Lily up and down and sneered. "Some soldier. Don't even look like one. I knew I'd hate this." Nikki then walked away.  
  
"What was her problem?" asked Lily. "She seemed really rude." Lily had a bad feeling about his. That girl didn't seem to like her at all and she didn't even get the chance to really get to know her.  
  
"I have no idea," said Erik. "I have no idea." ~  
  
"I really wish I knew why she hated me." Lily got up and left the park. You would have thought that it had seemed obvious, but it wasn't. Not to Lily at least or anyone else. Even Nikki was really confused about it.  
  
* * *  
  
Duo laid stretched out on his couch with a pillow covering his face as he thought hard about the incident at the base. There was a loud knock on his door and he shouted, "COME IN!!"  
  
He heard the door open and then it clicked shut. He heard the person walk towards him but still didn't remove the pillow to see who it was. The person walked over until they were right beside his couch and staring down at him.  
  
"You know, it's not good to just let anyone come in. You never know if they're dangerous or not," said a very familiar voice.  
  
"Well Nikki, you can't do anything. You have to work with me and I'm sure Lily or Yuriko would kill you if you tried anything." He heard Nikki growl and just smirked, finally removing the pillow and looking up at her. "So why are you here?" He got up and went to his kitchen to get a glass of water.  
  
Nikki threw herself onto his couch, making herself at home. "No reason really. Just felt like coming here to annoy you. I was bored at home."  
  
"Well, you're doing a great job of it." He walked back out with his water and sat across from her on the other chair. "Look, I'm busy. Why don't you just go home?"  
  
"I don't want to. And besides, you didn't look busy. You were just laying here on your couch like the lazy person you are." Duo just glared at her, trying not to say something mean. He might not have liked the girl, but there was no point in losing his temper. She wasn't worth it anyway.  
  
".........Well, I better go." Duo quickly got up and left the apartment before she could say anything. Nikki just sat there blinking.  
  
"Ok...that was weird." She got up. "Guess I'll leave then. Man, he's no fun." She walked out, shut the door behind her and left. She was hoping to have more fun and to tell the truth she had kind of wanted to talk to him, but he obviously didn't want to. She didn't understand how Lily could stand this loner thing. Nikki needed friends. She hated to be pushed away... Like with Erik. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
"God that girl is annoying. How did Lily put up with her for that long?" Duo walked through the park and watched all the people with their families. "But every time I look at Lily, I never get the impression that she hates her. I think she wants to be friends with her, but she doesn't know how. Nikki's mad at Lily for some reason and we have to find out why." Duo could always tell by that lonely and hurt look in Lily's eyes. Why did she push herself away from everyone if she hated being alone so much? But she didn't anymore. She had let them in and yet she still had that look in her eyes.What exactly happened? It was really bugging him.  
  
Duo stopped abruptly when he noticed a certain lavender haired girl silently walking through the park. "What's she doing here? Well, it would explain why she wasn't at home." He quietly walked up behind her. This gave him the chance to finally talk to her.  
  
"Hey Lily." Lily jumped and quickly turned around. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized that it was just Duo.  
  
"Oh, hi Duo. You scared me a bit."  
  
Duo just laughed nervously and said, "Gomen." He did, however, receive a smile from Lily, but it quickly faded. Duo was then suddenly serious. He hated it when she didn't smile. Finally she had opened up to them and yet she still hid something from them. "Lily, are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle. I've lived with it for awhile now. I'm used to it." It wasn't really a lie, but it did hurt her to think about it and so she usually tried to avoid it. No matter how much she tried though, she never succeeded.  
  
"Just because you're used to it doesn't mean that you're okay with it." Lily just looked at him, a little confused. "Lily, why don't you talk to me about it? I'm your friend and that's what friends do. They listen to one another! You can tell me anything."  
  
"Friend?"  
  
"Yeah. I know, I know. You don't have any friends. They only get in the way." Duo sighed and Lily smiled. Suddenly she hugged him, not understanding why.He really was her friend and she loved that about those boys.  
  
"Domo arigatou Duo-kun. You truly are my friend." She pulled away from him, still smiling. "I was wrong. I do have friends. I have you and the other gundam boys, and I love you all very much. You're all like family to me." Duo smiled, happy to finally be accepted by Lily.  
  
* * *  
  
Lily sat by the pond and happily ate the ice cream that Duo had bought her. Duo just sat beside her and smiled as he watched her. His smile faded when Lily finished her ice cream and suddenly appeared to be staring into space. She was really quiet and Duo just couldn't stand that, but he didn't know what to say or do to cheer her up.  
  
"It was late." Lily turned to Duo, tears flooding her eyes. He was confused.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Lily wiped tears off her cheeks and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down before she spoke anymore. "We were on a mission, Me, Nikki and.....Erik. Erik was a friend of mine. A very close friend. I loved him very much. He was very protective about me, most definitely like a brother." Tears continued to pour down her cheeks.  
  
"Lily, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Duo assured her, but Lily just wiped away more tears and shook her head. She wanted to tell him. She had to tell someone, she just couldn't hold it in any longer. Finally she had someone to talk to and so they just had to listen to her.  
  
"Iye. It's about time I got it out. I've tried so long just to lock it away and forget about it, but I can't. I just can't. I have to tell you."  
  
"Lily..."  
  
"Please! You said that you would listen. You said you would." She looked at him, eyes begging him to listen. "Please Duo. Please." She didn't want to lose this one chance to talk... the only chance that she probably ever would get the courage up to talk.  
  
Duo smiled and hugged Lily. He wouldn't push her away. Everyone had been and he wouldn't be one of those people. He cared too much about her to just push her away like everyone else. "Daijoubu Lily-chan. You can tell me anything anytime you want. I promise." Lily nodded and so her story began.  
  
~ "Lily, throw me my gun," shouted Erik. Lily flipped in the air and landed near his gun. Picking it up, she quickly threw it to him. Nikki watched the two then checked to make sure that no more soldiers were coming around.  
  
They had been sent on a mission to attack a secret OZ base just beyond colony L3. Lily, Nikki and Erik, who really weren't having a good day, put all their troubles behind them and quickly ran out of the room that they were in. Lily was ahead of the other two an quickly scanned the halls to see if it was clear.  
  
"Can we go?" asked a very annoyed Nikki. Lily rolled her eyes and continued searching. "Hello! Are you going to answer me?" She hadn't been having a very good day and Nikki was only making it worse. She just wanted to get this mission over with and get home.  
  
"Quiet," whispered Erik in a very sharp tone. "You're going to get us caught." He also just wanted to get home and just to talk with Lily. He knew that she wasn't having a good day and he wanted to be older brotherly figure that he had been for awhile now. The two shared an apartment and so it made it easy for him to talk with her.  
  
"Hmph. Why do you always yell at me and not Lily? I hate you! I hate you both."  
  
Lily, knowing the true impact of that remark on Erik, said nothing and did nothing. It's not like she cared, right? Wrong. Erik was her friend. Her only friend at that. She loved him very much. And besides, he always had reason to yell at Nikki. She was always complaining or screwing something up. Never had Erik once yelled at Lily, and she wasn't sure what she would do if he ever did.  
  
Lily grabbed Erik's hand and the two of them ran down the hall and into a small room. Lily was suddenly grabbed and pulled to the side, a gun to her head. Erik didn't worry about it though and Nikki just ignored it.  
  
"Don't move," a soldier said. "I'll shoot her if you do."  
  
Lily, not quite liking that idea, brought her leg up and kicked the guy in the forehead, causing him to stumble back and drop his gun. Nikki quickly scooped up the gun and held it a him.  
  
Lily walked over to a computer. "Nikki, toss me the disk."  
  
"No! I'll do it." She slowly walked towards Lily, gun still at the soldier. She didn't want Lily taking all the credit for this mission and so she decided to take care of the disk. It was a major risk, but she didn't care at the moment. She just wanted to prove to Lily that she could accomplish a mission as well.  
  
"Nikki, now. Toss it to me." She didn't like where this was going and she knew that if Nikki kept this up, that they would all fail and someone would end up getting hurt. She hoped that it was Nikki though, for all the trouble that she was causing.  
  
"I said no."  
  
"Nikki, give it to her," ordered Erik, but Nikki still refused.  
  
The soldier smiled making the three start to wonder what he was up to. As soon as Nikki turned to work on the computer, the soldier pulled out another gun and shot Lily in the arm. Erik tackled the guy and Nikki quickly finished on the computer. The lights started blinking as an alarm was set off. Erik knocked the guy unconscious, giving the three the chance to escape.  
  
"Nikki," started Lily as they ran down the hall. "Look at what you've gotten us into now. Don't you ever think before you act? My God, I feel like I'm watching over a little five year old." And it was true. If Lily didn't watch what Nikki was doing all the time, they would have been killed already. Why did they always have to be sent on missions with Nikki anyway?  
  
"I HATE YOU LILYANNA MICHELLE HINO!! I REALLY DO!!" Lily didn't care though and just ignore her. Very frustrated by this, Nikki ran up to Lily and pushed her forward. Lily stumbled and set off a trap. Her and Nikki's eyes both went wide. Nikki didn't mean to do that. She was just mad at her. She prayed that Lily wouldn't get hurt. Lily felt herself thrown even farther and blacked out for a few minutes as she hit a wall. A frightened scream could be heard. When Lily regained her vision there was a puddle of blood on the floor. Right next to it was...  
  
Lily's scream could be heard with Nikki's as they saw Erik lying on the floor, completely crushed. Her friend. Her best and only friend was dead. He was dead. Pictures of their past raced through Lily's mind and her scream died down to crying. Nikki sat beside her and they cried...together. Probably the only time they ever would. ~  
  
Lily sat there, crying, no longer able to say anything. Duo hugged his friend and slowly calmed her down. He felt sorry. Very sorry. Lily had a horrible past and he had a feeling that there was still more that she wasn't telling him. No matter. He would wait. There was no need to rush her. No need to rush her at all. This was bad enough as it was.  
  
* * *  
  
Yuriko sat off to the side and watched as the five boys stuffed their faces with food. But Duo wasn't as bad as usual. He actually ate slowly today. Why? Did it have something to do with Lily? Was it her story? It had to be. Did he actually care for her that much? What exactly was it? He couldn't stop thinking of it though... of Lily's story.  
  
Yuriko stood up. "Duo, may I please talk to you?" Everyone looked up at Yuriko and then to Duo.  
  
"Huh?" Duo looked up at Yuriko. "Uh...sure." He got up and the two of them walked outside. "Well, what do you want?" Yuriko turned to him. He had been to quiet, and she didn't like it. Duo was supposed to always be cheerful and to always keep everyone going and smiling.  
  
"Duo, is anything wrong? You've been awfully quiet lately."  
  
Duo just shrugged and said, "Just haven't felt like talking lately." Obviously. Yuriko didn't like his answer much and frowned.  
  
"It's not just that. Your schooling and training has been off today also. It's all really gone downhill. Look, you don't have to tell me what wrong, but please, keep up with your normal activities. I do worry Duo. Don't think I don't, ok?" Before Duo could say anything Yuriko had walked off.  
  
Yuriko smiled and didn't look back. She knew that Duo was thinking about what she had said. "Good luck Duo," she whispered to herself. "You'll need all the luck that you can get." Yuriko disappeared into a nearby forest.  
  
* * *  
  
"Yuriko is right," Duo told himself. "I can't let some stupid little problem of mine destroy my life. I'm sure I'll get over it anyway. I just have to." He sighed and walked back into the gundam base to finish eating. He had to stop thinking about her anyway. It's not like she ever thought about him. But that wasn't true. Duo was the first friend that she had made in two whole years and so she couldn't help but think of him. She had to also think think of the other four g-boys. They were the nicest boys that she had ever met and she was really happy to be friends with them.  
  
The four g-boys looked at him as he entered. He just ignored them and took his seat. He still didn't feel like talking, especially to them. He didn't know what to say anyway.  
  
"Well?" asked Wufei. "What did she want to talk to you about?"  
  
Duo looked at him and simply said, "None of your business." He then finished eating and left. It was unusual for Duo to keep quiet like that, but he obviously wasn't in a good mood. He was worrying his comrades, though.  
  
"Geez, what's his problem?" Wufei just shrugged it off and finished eating. If Duo wanted to talk then he would. It might have been unusual, but everyone has their moments.  
  
* * *  
  
"So," started Sally, "do you think that they're ready yet?"  
  
"No," came Yuriko's harsh and cold voice. "No where near ready. They need practice. Lots of it. If they can't beat Nikki, then they most definitely can't beat Koji. I won't let them go." Yuriko was right. The boys weren't skilled enough for this mission, and they had to be able to fight Koji if they were accomplish this.  
  
"Then what do you suppose we do?" asked Noin. She understood that the boys weren't ready yet, but if they didn't take this mission now then it might be too late by the time they are ready.  
  
"Let me train them."  
  
"Are you sure?" It was a hard job to train five boys, and normally Yuriko wouldn't do such a thing, but she wanted to get this over with. She would train them, whether they liked the training or not.  
  
"Absolutely. Their training starts tomorrow. They won't stop till I say. Get me?" Both Noin and Sally nodded. Yuriko was a pretty tough trainer and those boys had no idea of what was to come in their training. No idea at all. If they thought that it was hard before, then they'll definitely think that this is hard. Noin and Sally just prayed that the boys would survive this. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
Duo yawned and looked over at his tired comrades. Only seven o'clock in the morning and for some reason Yuriko had called them to the base. Each g-boy was more than half asleep, but all the girls seemed perfectly fine. It was too early in the morning, and the boys just wanted to go back to sleep.  
  
"Alrighty then!" Everyone turned to look at Noin. "Looks like everyone is here. Perfect. Now your training can begin."  
  
"Training? This early in the morning?" Duo felt like he was going to faint. "You have got to be kidding me. On Saturdays I don't even get up till twelve." He wouldn't be able to survive such early training.  
  
"Well, every Saturday and Sunday I want you five here at six thirty sharp. Training starts at seven and ends when I say. From Mondays to Fridays, you come straight here after school. That too ends when I say." She looked over at Nikki. "Any objections?"  
  
Nikki, quite surprised that she was asking her this, just simply shook her head. The training didn't bother her at all. She had been through some training with Yuriko before and even though it was a little tougher than what she was used to she could still handle it. "None."  
  
"Good." Yuriko looked to all of the g-boys. "As you all well know, Lily no longer has anything to do with this mission, so from now on I am in charge of anything having to deal with it. You will follow my every order and if you don't agree with anything I say, then I guess you're out. I'm not as easy as she was on you guys so don't think that you can get away with anything." It was true. Lily was a whole hell of a lot softer than Yuriko. The boys liked Yuriko, but they wished that she was a nice and soft as Lily. That was one of the differences between them.  
  
All six pilots just simply nodded their heads. They weren't taking any chances on getting Yuriko angry, and Nikki just didn't feel like getting into another argument with someone. She was sick of the arguing for once.  
  
"Alright...to the training room," ordered Sally. Groans were heard, but slowly everyone moved to the training room.  
  
* * *  
  
"Ugh! Pain." Duo sat on his couch, too tired to do anything else. Only six o'clock and he was ready to go to bed. Yuriko was pretty tough when it came to training. He wasn't sure if he could last for very long. The weird part was she had Nikki helping her with all the lessons. He laid back on his couch. "There's no way I'll be able to get up and get into bed." He closed his eyes, and within that very second he was asleep.  
  
* * *  
  
Lily sat on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. She looked at the phone and sighed. "He's probably too tired to do anything anyway." She rested her chin on her knees and stared at the TV.  
  
"Hey Lily-chan...ya in there?" She heard Timmy shout from the front door.  
  
"Hai...nande?" She got up and walked out to the living room.  
  
"Just wondering." Timmy looked at her and smiled, letting the smile quickly fade. "Hey, what's wrong?"  
  
"Hm? Oh nothing. Don't worry about me." She forced on a smile, which was pretty believable mind you. She was hoping that her brother would want to do something, but he looked busy at the moment and so she decided not to bother him. She would just go find something else to do.  
  
"Ok. Uh...me and Daichi are making dinner tonight so why don't ya go and rest a bit. You look tired."  
  
"Nah. I think I'll go take a walk. I'll be back in an hour." She ran out the door. "Ja!" If she couldn't find something to do at home, she might as well find something else to do outdoors.  
  
* * *  
  
Koji stood in a small park and looked around. He looked up at a big apartment building and smiled. "Why not visit an old friend, ne?" He started towards the tall building when he saw a young girl with short lavender hair walk out. This just made it so much easier for him. Silently he followed her.  
  
Lily turned a corner, unaware that she was being followed. She entered a small dark alley and continued onto wherever she was going, which even she didn't know yet. She was confused and something inside her was empty. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but ever since she had let herself open up to those boys, and had told that story to Duo, she felt drawn to them, like as if she was supposed to be with them. She felt at peace with them.  
  
"Nice place to turn...don't ya think?" came that all too familiar voice. Lily turned quickly and panic started to rise inside of her. What was he doing here? Looking around she found nothing.  
  
"What do you want?" Fear showed in her voice and he liked it. Lily was always scared of him after that day. He hated her and yet he loved her. He had to have her, had to torture her, had to make her suffer.  
  
"Tell me...who is Yuriko?"  
  
"Like I'd ever tell you?" she spat out. "Do you really think that I'm that dumb?"  
  
"I don't know. Are you?" He grinned and slowly approached her. "You do know that if you try to fight me I'll still win, ne?" She knew this, but there was nothing else that she could do. She would never tell him who Yuriko was. It would just destroy everything.  
  
Lily backed away. She could run out of the alley but it was still awhile before it ended, and he was right. She was no match for him, but she had to try anyway. It was her only option, even if he would catch up with her.  
  
"Well, what's it gonna be?"  
  
Lily got into a fighting position and lunged at him, but her luck was absent, once again. He grabbed her arm and his fist connected with her stomach. It was a curse. She was to be tortured by this jerk for the rest of her life.  
  
"You picked the wrong choice dear." He watched as Lily fell to the ground, and he laughed. "You pathetic little weakling. Get up." Lily groaned and slowly got up. Koji grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up to hurry her.  
  
"Let go." Lily desperately tried to pry his hands off of her hair, with no luck. She felt tears start to sting her eyes and desperately fought them back.  
  
"Not until you tell me who Yuriko is."  
  
"Never!" Lily brought her knee up and kneed him where it counts. He stumbled back, every curse word in the book pouring out of his mouth. Lily also stumbled back from him suddenly letting go. Quickly getting up, she began to run.  
  
"I don't think so." Running as fast as she could, he finally caught up to her and grabbed her from behind. It just wasn't fair. Why did he have to be a better fighter than her? Why did she ever have to get mixed up with this psychotic jerk?  
  
"Iye! Let go of me!" Lily shouted, but he just ignored her.  
  
He threw her against the wall, causing her to bang her head on it. She fell to the ground and blood ran down her face. Finally Lily just let her tears fall and Koji smiled.  
  
"Are you scared yet?" He leaned in close to her. "You should be. Tell me who Yuriko is and I might consider letting you go." Lily looked at him, tears covering her cheeks.  
  
"I told you...I'm not stupid." A sudden stinging sensation covered her cheek and she looked at Koji. "Kill me if you want. I will not tell you." She never gave in and even if she was scared, she wouldn't let Koji, of all people, order her around.  
  
"If that's that way you want it." He stood up and pulled out a gun. "It's your choice Lily dear." He pointed the gun towards her and pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed down the alley and Lily sat there clutching her shoulder.  
  
"Why...why didn't you kill me?"  
  
Koji just smiled and looked down at her. "Because I'm not done with you yet. Until next time dear." He then turned and ran down the alley, soon disappearing.  
  
"Lily-chan?" Lily looked up to see Nikki looking down at her, concern written all over her face. "Lily-chan, what happened?" Nikki kneeled down next to Lily. She'd never seen Lily so beaten up before and she was actually worried. Lily couldn't believe that Nikki was there.  
  
Lily glared at Nikki. "Oh, don't give me that crap. Don't act like you care." Lily wiped her tears and turned away from Nikki, but the tears continued to run. She didn't want Nikki to see her like this. Not ever, yet here she was, as pathetic as they could get and her only support was the one person who hated her more than anything.  
  
"Lily-chan..." Nikki reached out her hand to place it on Lily's shoulder, but quickly restrained herself and pulled it away. "Gomen nasai."  
  
"Huh?" Lily looked up to see Nikki crying. But why? "Nikki?" Nikki fell on her knees right besides Lily. It was strange and in a way it scared Lily. The only time she had ever seen Nikki cry was when Erik died.  
  
"Gomen nasai Lily-chan. I was never a good friend to you and yet you were always still so nice to me. I'm not surprised that you hate me now." But it was wrong. It wasn't true at all. Lily didn't feel like that.  
  
"Nikki... I don't hate you. In fact, all this time I had always wished that one day the two of us would be the best of friends. I've always liked you Nikki, very much." Lily couldn't believe that she was admitting all of this. It's not like Nikki cared anyway... right?  
  
"You...you do?"  
  
"Hai. When I first heard that there was gonna be a new girl pilot to work with Yuriko I was so happy. I couldn't wait to meet you. But when I finally met you, you didn't seem to like me much. It hurt and I didn't know what to do. Every time I tried to talk to you, you would just push me away." Lily hated being pushed away. It was her biggest fear, even though everyone did it everyday.  
  
"Oh...well..." Nikki looked at Lily but stopped what she was going to say when she all of a sudden saw Lily faint. "Lily-chan? LILY-CHAN!!"  
  
* * *  
  
"Is she alright?" A faint voice could be heard, and Lily opened her eyes. It sounded like Duo. A groan escaped Lily's throat and she slowly sat up.  
  
"Yeah, just a little beaten," she could hear Nikki say through a door.  
  
Looking around, Lily found herself in a bed. The room was dark and the clock beside her read ten thirty p.m. She held her head and swung her feet over the side of the bed. It was too dark to see anything, so she coudn't really tell where she was.  
  
The door opened and Lily shielded her eyes from the bright light. After about a few seconds, she moved her hand and watched as Nikki and Duo walked in. They both looked at her and stood in front of her.  
  
"Lily, you shouldn't try to get up yet. Rest for a bit," Duo ordered her. Looking around again, Lily realized that she was at Duo's apartment, in his room.  
  
"Are you alright, Lily-chan?" Nikki asked her as she sat down next to her almost in a way friend. "I was so worried when you passed out."  
  
Lily smiled and hugged Nikki. "Hai Nikki. I'm glad that you showed up when you did. Who knows what would have happened." It was true. Had she of been left out there in that dark alley without treatment, she probably would have died.  
  
Duo drew a blank. He couldn't understand why they were being so nice to each other. Weren't they supposed to be enemies? When did they all of a sudden become friends?  
  
"You know... Erik did love you very much Nikki-chan," Lily said as she pulled away.  
  
"What?" Nikki looked at Lily, confused. Duo was now paying close attention to both girls. "Iye, he couldn't have. I knew that from the first day I had met you. You two were so cute together. I wished that I could be you."  
  
Lily looked at Nikki, after awhile bursting out into laughter. Nikki, who was confused, looked at Lily. What was so funny? Did she say something wrong? Lily stopped her laughter and looked straight into Nikki's eyes. So that's what it was. Nikki had been jealous of her. Now it all made sense.  
  
"Nikki-chan, me and Erik were only friend. That was it. He was too much like a brother for me to ever like him. He was just protective about me, and see... that day was my birthday, so he was going to take me out. Me and Erik were just very close friends who were completely comfortable being that close to each other all the time. He loved you so much, but you were always so mean to him so he never said anything. He was afraid that you didn't like him."  
  
Nikki couldn't believe it. For this long now, she had hated the two for completely false reasons. She felt so stupid. She felt her eyes start to burn, suddenly tears pouring out of her eyes.  
  
"Nikki-chan?" Lily looked at Nikki then nodded her head. "I understand. That's in the past now. This is the present...We're friends, finally, so what was in the past doesn't matter. When this mission is over the two of us will visit Erik, my brother and your love." Nikki nodded, wiped her tears and smiled.  
  
"Domo arigatou Lily-chan." The two girls embraced each other, Duo smiling, happy that the two had worked their problems out. It was great to see them as friends, and finally maybe the arguing between everyone would stop. They seemed so much more peaceful.  
  
"I should head home now, Braid Boy," Lily said while pulling away from Nikki. She stood up and walked to the door. In the moment of reaching it, Lily's legs gave way and she was soon crashing to the ground when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her back.  
  
"I think that you should rest first."  
  
"Iye, I have to return home to Oniichan and Daichi-kun."  
  
"Duo's right Lily-chan. You need to rest first. I'll call them and let them know that you're okay. Duo, make sure she gets some rest. I'll be back in a little." Nikki then left the small apartment, leaving Duo to tend to Lily.  
  
"You, Little One, are getting some rest." He laid Lily back on the bed. "You're in no condition to go anywhere." Lily just stared at Duo then sighed. She knew that she wouldn't be able to get herself out of this one. Might as well get some rest then, and head home the next day. Nodding her head, slowly her eyes got heavy and she was asleep, the land of dreams now surrounding her, whether they be bad or good. 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
"Iye..." Lily tossed and turned in the bed, poor Duo left only to watch her. There was no way he could help and so he felt helpless. Here his friend was having a nightmare, of what he didn't know, and yet all he could do was just stand there.  
  
"Erik...no...not Koji...iye...IYE!!" Lily shot up out of the bed, landing hard on the ground. "Itai." Duo quickly ran over and looked at her.  
  
"Lily-chan...are you alright?" Lily just sat there though, with her pain filled eyes staring straight at the ground. It hurt Duo to see her like this, but he just didn't know what to do.  
  
"I'm scared of him...very scared." Lily buried her face in her hands and started to cry. Duo just hung his head and pulled her close, embracing her tightly and trying to comfort her.  
  
"Daijoubu Lily-chan. I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise. Nothing will ever happen to you as long as I'm around." Lily clung tightly to his shirt and continued to cry. Duo rocked her back and forth, and hummed softly into her ear. Slowly, Lily's crying died and she was soon asleep in Duo's arms. He leaned against the bed and fell deep into sleep too.  
  
* * *  
  
"Domo Nikki," a voice said over the phone. It was Timmy. Nikki had obviously called Lily's brother just to let him know that Lily was alright. He had sounded worried at first, but now he sounded very much relieved.  
  
"No prob Tim. Had to let ya know you're little sis was okay. Anyway, I should head back now. Ja." Nikki hung up the phone and stepped out of the small booth that she was in. "Time to go. Hope he got her to sleep. That Lily can be stubborn at times." She shook her head, slung a few bags over her shoulder, and headed back to Duo's apartment.  
  
* * *  
  
"I'm back," Nikki shouted, but quickly stopped when she saw the two on the floor sleeping. "Well...at least I know he got her sleep." She looked over at the clock. "Twelve." She pulled a blanket off of the bed and covered the two up. She thought that they looked so adorable and smiled.  
  
Nikki walked out Duo's living room and laid down on his couch. "I have a feeling that those two won't be getting up anytime soon. Might as well get some sleep before I have to head to the base." Her eyes slowly closed and she was soon fast asleep.  
  
* * *  
  
"Nikki, wake up." The sound of Duo's voice broke her from her dream, causing her to roll off the couch and crash to the ground.  
  
"Wah! What the heck? Duo, what's the big deal?" She got up and sat back down on the couch. She rubbed her sleep filled eyes and slowly looked at him. Everything was blurry, but slowly her vision cleared.  
  
"We have to be at the base in less than half an hour."  
  
"What?" Nikki's eyes widened and she looked over at the clock. Sure enough, it was already six fifteen. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier and where's Lily?" She was wide awake now.  
  
"What are you talking about? I've been trying to wake you up since five thirty. Lily was gone this morning when I woke up." He handed her a glass of water. "You should get dressed. I doubt that Yuriko would want us to be late."  
  
"Hai." Nikki took the glass of water and gulped it down. Then she took her few bags and went into Duo's bathroom to get ready. Ten minutes later the two pilots were ready and headed to the base. If they were lucky, Yuriko wouldn't get them for being late.  
  
* * *  
  
"You're ten minutes late," explained Heero, who raised an eyebrow. "What happened?" It was usualy for Duo to be late, but Nikki was also late, not to mention the fact that they showed up her together. He felt like he had missed out on something, but thought better of it.  
  
"Leave them be Heero. I'll let them slide for the day." Yuriko looked at both Nikki and Duo. "I'm sure they have their reasons." Under her viels, she grinned, knowing the exact reason as to why they were late.  
  
"Yes ma'am," said Duo, "we do." Yuriko nodded to him in understanding.  
  
"Today's training isn't like a normal training. I want everyone to clean this base up top notch and no one is leaving till every inch of here is clean."  
  
"What? That's injustice. What type of training is that?" demanded Wufei.  
  
"My kind of training," responded Yuriko in a voice that clearly said 'argue with me and you die'. Wufei gulped and nodded his head. The six pilots each ran off to do their 'cleaning'. Yuriko just smiled and went to go work on her gundam. It was after all, a very good thing to have a clean base. She didn't want slobs for pilots.  
  
* * *  
  
Weeks and weeks of training had finally gone by. It had been a month and a half and Yuriko had decided that it was time. The g-boys had all completed their training, day in and day out of non stop work. Three times they had cleaned up the base, ten times their gundams. Then they had to plant a garden and jog through a forest for an entire day. Other times they fought with Nikki or they were taught new fighting skills. They also learned how to use knives, daggers and swords better than before. And the rest of the time they meditated.  
  
Yuriko and Nikki examined the five boys, who stood in one straight line. Timmy and Daichi stood off to the side, and Noin, Une and Sally each sat at computers. Mariemaia sat in her wheelchair next to Yuriko.  
  
"Finally, all five of you have completed your training. You're finally strong enough to beat me or Nikki as a team." Yuriko stood tall and proud of her 'students'. "I'm glad that all of you have worked this hard and not given up. The day has come when our mission will take place. For Lily, we must stop Koji. It's too bad that we haven't seen her since that day that Koji had decided to attack her. I know that she is safe though and will return soon. Now, I would like everyone to get into their positions and set off to attack OZ."  
  
Each pilot nodded and everyone ran off to do their jobs. Duo and Nikki got into a mobile suit carrier with Timmy, and Heero and Trowa went with Daichi. Yuriko, Quatre and Wufei got in their gundams and flew off. Finally, the mission would take place. They trained long and hard for this, and they just couldn't believe that they day had finally arrived where Yuriko would let them go. For Lily, they had to get Koji back.  
  
"Timmy, if you and Daichi have any problems getting in let me know," ordered Yuriko. "We'll head back and figure a new plan."  
  
"Don't think so Yuri-chan," came Daichi's voice. "This would be the only good way to get in. If this fails then we fail. We will get in."  
  
"I understand." Yuriko looked ahead and smiled. She knew that she could trust in all of them. They were the best fighters that she had ever worked with, all of them: Nikki, the g-boys and both Timmy and Daichi. She was very happy to have them all around. "Wufei, Quatre, heads up. Leos!"  
  
"What?" Quatre appeared on Yuriko's screen. "Do you think that they were expecting us?" He doubted on it, but you could never be too sure.  
  
"Iye. They couldn't have been." Wufei's picture appeared right next to Quatre's. "How would they know?"  
  
"It doesn't matter if they were or weren't. We need to destroy them now," ordered Yuriko. So what if there Leo's, and so what if they had known. There was no point in worrying about it now.  
  
"Hai." The two boys agreed.  
  
"All right!" Yuriko pulled a few triggers in her gundam and it pulled the silence glaive off of it's back. "They better like the afterlife." She flew forward and sliced through three Leos. Sandrock pulled out it's two weapons and sliced through two other Leos. Nataku outstretched it's arm and busted through one Leo. On and on this continued, and always more Leos would be sent.  
  
* * *  
  
"Ok you guys," started Timmy, "we're in." He landed the mobile suit carrier on a platform and watched as Daichi landed behind him. "Ya'll are on your own now. Me and Daichi have to find Koji." He leapt out of the huge spacecraft and landed on the platform. "Good luck." The four pilots watched as the two soldiers ran off.  
  
"Well, time to split ya guys," Duo said. "Me and Nikki go this way. We'll meet up when it's time to fight." Duo and Nikki ran one way, Heero another and Trowa the other way. It was their turn now, and they weren't going to let Lily or Yuriko down.They trained to long for that.  
  
* * *  
  
"What the heck?" shouted Yuriko. "They just don't seem to stop coming." One after another they kept showing up. No matter how many of them they destroyed, there was always more. The three pilots were getting tired and wanted to stop. They couldn't hold up much longer and their weapons were running out of power and amunition.  
  
"YURIKO!!" Sandrock crashed into Fire Storm, sending it back so that it could take Fire Storm's hit.  
  
"QUATRE!!" Yuriko, wanting to go help Quatre, was caught up by five other Leos. "Damn it." She turned to see two Leos holding onto Sandrock and eight trying to contain Nataku. Yuriko sighed and shut down her gundam. They were out on this one.  
  
* * *  
  
"Yo Nikki! I think this is the room." Duo and Nikki entered a mobile suit room to find it empty. "Where are all the Leos?" It was the Leo room. They could tell by all the suits around and the computers.  
  
"Gone." The two pilots turned to find a soldier holding a gun at them. Both pilots looked at each other, sighed and slowly raised their hands. Five other pilots entered the room, smirking.  
  
"Looks like you two have failed," a soldier said. "Throw them in the prisoner room." They were out on this one. They couldn't believe it though. How did they know that they were coming?  
  
* * *  
  
Heero stood at the computer facing ten other soldiers. To him, this just wasn't right. They were ready for him to arrive and had planted this trap for him, but how would they have known? They led him out of the room and threw him into another room, where he also found Nikki and Duo. After him they threw in Trowa.  
  
"Great. Just great," exclaimed Nikki. "Now what? I sure hope that Yuri..." At that very moment, Yuriko, Quatre and Wufei were thrown into the room. "Cut that. Never mind. We're all doomed. Our only hope was also captured! Great! Why did you guys have to go and get caught as well?" But she stopped as she watched Yuriko.  
  
"Yuriko!" Quatre caught Yuriko, as she collapsed and almost hit the ground. "Yuriko, are you alright? He beat you pretty bad."  
  
"Hai. Daijoubu." But she wasn't. Blood was dripping everywhere. She was seriously wounded, and they had no way to stop the bleeding.  
  
"Iye." Duo got up and ran over to them. He took Yuriko from Quatre and sat her on the ground. "Yuriko, don't try to do anything."  
  
"Duo...I'm fine..." She looked up at him, into those bright cobalt eyes of his. He was so warm. She felt so warm against his body. She felt so safe.  
  
"Iye. Stop lying to us." It was her nature though. Lying just came so easily. It was the only way that she could hide everything from them.  
  
The door opened and Koji walked in, followed by Timmy and Daichi. Yuriko looked up.  
  
"Timmy...Daichi..." They both kneeled next to her, quite concerned. They had failed as well, and now they had nothing to fall back on. The whole thing was a complete mess. They didn't know what to do anymore.  
  
"Yuriko, are you okay?" Timmy asked her.  
  
"Hai." She screamed when Koji grabbed her by the arm and threw her up against the wall. She was in enough pain as it was and now he was throwing her around everywhere.  
  
"YURIKO!!" Duo got up and got ready to run towards her, but Koji pulled out a gun and pointed it at him. Duo just glared at him, and watched as Koji tuned back to Yuriko.  
  
"Who are you?" He kneeled next to Yuriko and reached for her veil.  
  
"Iye." Yuriko pulled away fast as best she could. "Stay away." She couldn't let them find out, any of them, about who she was, her identity. It just wasn't allowed.  
  
He jumped on top of her and grabbed her veil. "I will find out who you are." Despite all her screaming and kicking, he pulled it off, and there laid a lavender haired girl with matching eyes. Gasps echoed throughout the room and Yuriko, or Lily, felt sick to her stomach. Koji stared wide eyed at her. "L...Lily?"  
  
Tears filled her eyes and she looked at all the g-boys. They looked hurt and deceived. She had deceived them. The tears spilled and she turned away from all of them. Koji snorted and got off of her. Timmy ran over to his sister and hugged her. Daichi and all the g-boys stood there, mouths agape. Nikki got up and went to comfort Lily.  
  
"The two of you knew?" Duo asked Timmy. "Who else knew?"  
  
"Sally, Une, Noin, Queen Relena and Mariemaia," Nikki answered. "But she had good reason. You don't know the full story."  
  
"Who cares about the whole story?" asked Duo, who was obviously hurt the most. "It's the fact that she didn't trust us enough to tell us." All the g- boys nodded and Lily just cried even harder. She hated this. She was going to lose all the friends she ever had, all because of one stupid secret that she should have told them.  
  
"You STUPID BITCH!!" they heard Koji shout. He took his gun and shot Lily in the stomach.  
  
"LILY!!" All five g-boys ran over to her. They had to help her even though she had decieved her. She might actually have good reasons. You never know. And even is she did decieve her, they couldn't help but care about her now. Nikki jumped up and kicked the gun out of Koji's hand.  
  
"How dare you! After what you did to her, it's all your fault that she hates you so much. It would have been fine had you not of done what you did." It was true. Lily did love him and it would have worked out, but he ruined that. He destroyed the happiness that they once could have had.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Koji. He did know, but he didn't care. All he knew was that he wanted Lily, more than anything.  
  
"I do," Timmy spoke up. He looked up at Koji, their eyes burning into one another's. "I do." 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
  
Koji looked at Timmy carefully. He knew, but did he care? Of course not. Love? Ha, like he actually knew what that was. To him there was no such thing. He just wanted Lily. He needed Lily.  
  
Lily looked up at her brother, who had ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and placed it over her wound. Maybe it would be best if she died. Then she wouldn't have to put up with the pain of knowing that she had deceived them her friends. They trusted her and yet she kept her biggest secret from them.  
  
"You...you were engaged to my sister." Timmy's piercing blue and purple eyes stared straight into Koji's. "That night..."  
  
~ "Koji, tadaima!" Lily shouted out. She looked around the big house in search of him. "I have the papers for our wedding." The day for the wedding was near. Only one more week and she and him could live happyily. She would be with the one person that she wanted more than anything to be with. She traveled up the stairs and opened the door to his room. The horror in her eyes was enough to make a whole fleet of soldiers cry. Her eyes filled with tears and she felt her body running out of the house. The sight of Koji making out with the new soldier, Amelia, made her feel sick to the stomach. She fell on her knees. Timmy, who had seen her run out of the house, shook his head and vowed to get revenge for his sister.~  
  
"So what?" Koji spat out. "What's it matter? No one could care about a little bitch like her anyway. All I need her for is a toy."  
  
"That little bitch is my friend!! And no one uses her in such a way!!" Duo shouted as he jumped up and punched Koji right in the face. He was pissed now. Lily was his friend and he would always stick up for her, no matter what.  
  
Koji stumbled back and tenderly touched his nose, which was bleeding. Koji glared at Duo and growled. "You have no idea what you have just done. No one has ever landed a punch on me before."  
  
"Koji...no!" Lily shouted. Timmy fell back and Duo felt himself pushed to the side as Lily was nailed with about five blows right in the stomach. She fell back, more blood spilling. "Koji...if you want to fight someone then...leave these boys out of it. They have nothing to do with any of this. This fight... is between me and... you." She struggled to get back up but Timmy grabbed her.  
  
"Lily...iye. Dame! You'll only get hurt even more."  
  
"Oniichan...I have to. This...this is my fight."  
  
"Iye! Lily-chan..."started Nikki, "this is our fight. You are my friend...my best friend, almost like a sister. He hurt you and so he hurt me too. I will never let you fight alone." She smiled down at Lily and silently vowed to always be there for her, right beside her. Lily looked around at the g-boys and saw the same look and vow in their eyes, and she couldn't help but let a few tears fall down her cheeks.  
  
"Nikki-chan...minna..."  
  
"Sir..." a soldier burst through the door and looked at Koji. "The base...it's set to self destruct in fifteen minutes. We need to evacuate."  
  
"What?" He looked at all the pilots. "I will get you all next time. Oh...and if you were wondering about our invasion of your plans..." Koji smirked. "I didn't kidnap Mariemaia for no reason at all."  
  
"A bug..." Lily's eyes opened wide. She wiped the tears from her eyes and watched Koji.  
  
"Hai." Alarms sounded off around the base in warning of the explosion. He pulled out another gun and shot Lily again, then he ran off.  
  
"Lily, are you alright?" Lily looked up at her brother, but as her vision got blurry and the last thing she saw was everyone gather around her before she blanked out.  
  
* * *  
  
Lily woke up and looked around what seemed to be a hospital room. The smell of medicine filled her nostrils and she sighed. Tubes were hooked to her and she was bandaged up. Voices could be heard outside her door.  
  
After a few moments, Timmy and Daichi had entered the room. Timmy smiled at his little sister. She wished he wouldn't. She had screwed up big time. She probably lost the only friends that she would ever gain.  
  
"Hey Lily-chan...'bout time ya woke up," her brother said cheerfully.  
  
"How long have I been out?" Lily asked, sitting up and ignoring her brother's cheerful tone. She just wasn't in the mood.  
  
"A week. Hey listen...Okaasan called."  
  
"Honto? How is everyone?" Lily looked at her brother, cheering up just a little.  
  
"They're great, demo...Okaasan wants me to return for a little while. Daichi was gonna come with me. I'd ask you to come also but I remember saying you wouldn't return until you've defeated Koji. You'll be alright, ne?"  
  
"Of course. I'm a big girl." The three soldiers smiled, Lily forcing hers.  
  
"Well, as long as you're sure, Imouto. Take care of yourself. Me and Daichi are leaving tonight. You are also free to go tonight. Don't do anything stupid."  
  
"Love ya too, Oniichan." Lily smiled. "Just go. I'll be perfectly fine." She wasn't really sure about that, but she would find out. If anything, she was going to leave as soon as she could. She just couldn't bare to face those boys. How could she have done such a stupid thing?  
  
"Alright." He kissed his sister on the forehead. "Ja ne, Lily-chan." He turned and both he and Daichi left the room. Lily sighed and laid back down. A nurse came in and Lily smiled.  
  
* * *  
  
"I heard that Lily was out of the hospital," Duo told everyone as he ran into the small room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him, then at each other. Finally they could talk to her, and see how she was doing.  
  
"Then lets go visit her," suggested Trowa.  
  
"Hai," came everyone's response, and they all left.  
  
* * *  
  
Lily stood in her apartment, millions of boxes outlining the walls. She sighed and wiped her arm across her forehead. She hated to leave them, but she had no choice. They probably wouldn't trust her anymore, not after she kept such a secret from them.  
  
"What are you doing?" She swung around and found all five g-boys and Nikki staring at her. Duo approached her. "Why is everything packed away?"  
  
"Uh...well you see...I didn't think that I should stay around any longer. I've been enough of a pain for all of you, and I should have told you about Yuriko. It just wasn't right of me. I should have died that night. I don't deserve..." Lily felt herself pulled into a hug and looked up at Duo.  
  
"You deserve very much to be here. I'm glad you didn't die, and you probably had your reasons for hiding your identity like that. We aren't mad at you Lily..." He pushed away and looked down at her. "Not one bit. We want you to stay." Lily noticed a tear fall down her cheek and then she saw the same thing with all the other g-boys and Nikki.  
  
"But...where will I stay? With Relena no longer supporting me, it will take awhile for me to earn money to pay for this apartment."  
  
"You can stay with me," said Nikki.  
  
"Honto?" Lily looked at Nikki , who just smiled and nodded. Lily felt tears and started to cry. "Domo arigatou minna. Domo arigatou. Ano... I have to tell you about my identity." Everyone looked at her. "Well, at first Yuriko was just a cover up for when I had missions dealing with people who knew about who I really was." Each g-boy raised and eyebrow and Nikki stiffled a laugh.  
  
"You guys... I can't believe that you don't know. Lily is a princess of Mars."  
  
"A what?!" The look on each g-boys face was priceless and even Lily laughed slightly.  
  
"Anyway, then Yuriko was used as a disguise for Koji. Because of what he had done, everyone thought that it was best if I just hide from him for awhile. So any mission that I had to do where he was, I would disguise myself as Yuriko. I guess now that he knows though, I don't need the disguise anymore."  
  
Everyone smiled and Duo said, "Well, now that we have that out of the way, everything makes much more sense now." The other g-boys nodded and Lily smiled. They still accepted her. "I guess we should move you out of here."  
  
Lily smiled and nodded. They each grabbed a box and brought them out for Lily. As long as she would stay they were all happy. The smiles plastered on their faces made Lily happy. For once she actually felt like she was part of a family...a real family. And never again would she keep secrets from them. She would tell them everything. No matter what it was. 


End file.
